I know what the following is and have access to what appears to be a fairly free translation, but as I try to work my way through a word by word, literal translation, I get completely lost.

For example: Is fá in the second line a typo? If not, what does it mean?

It would help me a great deal if someone could supply a word for word version that disregards the music.

Thanks.

Sinne Finna Fáil
Atá fá gheall ag Éirinn,
buion dár slua
Thar túinn do ráinig chugainn,
fámhórd bheith saor
Sean tír ár sinsir feastá
Ní fhagfar fá tíorá fán tráil
Anocht a théam sa bhearna bhaoil,
Le gean ar Ghaeil chun báis nó saoil
guna screach fá l mhach na bpiléar
Seo libh canaidh amhrán na bhFiann

Your version is not very accurate.
This one's from Vicipéid:

Sinne Fianna Fáil atá fé gheall ag Éirinn,
buíon dár slua thar toinn do ráinig chugainn,
Fé mhóid bheith saor, seantír ár sinsear feasta
Ní fhágfar fén tíorán ná fén tráill.
Anocht a théam sa bhearna bhaoil,
Le gean ar Ghaeil, chun báis nó saoil
Le gunna scréach, fé lámhach na bpiléar
Seo libh canaídh Amhrán na bhFiann.


Standard Irish is younger than that song. It's Munster Irish.

Fé (also. fá) = faoi = under, fé gheall = under vow > pledged (to)
do ráinig = reached, came
anocht a théam = anocht a théimis (tonight let's go!)
canaídh = canaígí = sing you!

Lars

Théam is not an imperative but a present habitual, I think: tonight we go

canaigí instead of canaígí because the verb is "can".

fé = faoi in Munster Irish

Go raibh maith agaibh a Lars agus Lughaidh. The Wikopedia source is very helpful.

Uaireanta, úsáidtear "Sinne Laochra Fáil" seachas "Fianna Fáil"

Nílim cinnte caidé is cúis le sin ach b'fhéidir mar gheall ar ainm an pháirtí polaitiúil atá sé..

quote:

Uaireanta, úsáidtear "Sinne Laochra Fáil" seachas "Fianna Fáil"

Nílim cinnte caidé is cúis le sin ach b'fhéidir mar gheall ar ainm an pháirtí polaitiúil atá sé..

Féidir rá go dtugann sé sin níos mó onóra don pháirtí atá i gceist mar a léiríonn an t-amhránaí nach cuma leis gur ainmnigh an páirtí é féin tar éis an ghrúpa laochra atá i gceist. Mar a deirtear i mBéarla, is féidir ladar uachtair reoite a thabhairt ar shluasaid, ach is sluadaid i gcónaí í.

quote:

Théam is not an imperative but a present habitual, I think: tonight we go

I think, -am is an imperative, future indicative and present subjunctive suffix of 1st person plural.
Because of missing -f- I thought it is imperative mood.
But perhaps it is future tense: "tonight we'll go"
I don't think -am is or was ever used in present indicative.
Because of "tonight" it can't be habitual.

Lars

"Seo libh canaídh Amhrán na bhFiann."

I have an American friend who, not knowing the rest of the words, only joins in on this line when the anthem is being sung. But she always sings the line as: "shovel Connie around the Green"

quote:

Because of "tonight" it can't be habitual.

You're looking at things from a grammatical point of view... but the problem is there's no such thing as grammar -- we talk the way we talk, and that's the end of it. Noting patterns and constructing a "grammar" may help learners, but it causes problems when the system breaks down. For instance, the following sentence is future tense even though a grammar book might think it's present tense:

I'm buying the new Xbox tomorrow.

Of course you could circumvent this error by puting more stuff in the grammar book, e.g. "Present tense 'be' followed by an -ing word is actually future tense", but you'll end up with a spaghetti set of rules.

Ah, it seems the languages of the Irish and British isles seem happy to collapse to just an habitual present and past with the rest made by round about constructions