Hullo from a newbie,
I'm inquiring about the cultural side to "bailceach ranaig", if such an expression used to exist. (balc ranic). Is the idea of "strong man arrived. warrior reached" likely to be a Celtic poetic term or Gaelic traditional saying?

It seems to me to be a Scottish Gaelic phrase. If it does exist in Irish (Gaelic) I am unfamiliar with it.

bailceach/ Balcach

http://www.faclair.info/

Can mean a strong and sturdy man, in Scottish Gaelic, never heard of it in Irish though.

Are you sure you have "ranaig" spelled correctly?

rànaich can mean roaring in Scottish Gaelic: http://www2.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/facl ... C3%A0naich

Ràinig" (Scottish Gaelic: http://www2.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/facl ... a=Gaidhlig) and Ráinig (Irish Gaelic) can mean "came" in both.

I don't understand why the phrase is inverted though!

I think it should be:

Ràinig am Bailceach the "strong man came/arrived", as that is the traditional syntax. Unless its some sort of poetic licence?

Am Báilceach a/do ráinig the strong man who came, I think could work too though"

I am not that familiar with Scottish Gaelic, definitely wait for some more input!

_________________

Please wait for corrections/ more input from other forum members before acting on advice

That's excellent as my target expression is Sanskritic dialect " ring balin."
McBain Dictionary has :
ràinig
came, Irish ránaig, Old Irish ránic, vênit;
-----
which is as you describe, and I guessed the noun-verb instead of verb-noun order.
Also : rainig "reached".
Sanskrit verb-noun placement is variable.
Skt. ring "move. advance slowly." balin "strong. mighty".
Sanskrit Balinese (Indonesia). ring " with. behind. in footsteps". balin "warrior".
(So perhaps the verb ring became a preposition of movement.)?
(Celtic Danann may be linked to the Danu water-goddess who has 2 temples in Bali, and probably Celtic Belenos of sun and rainfall connects with Baal strong god of sun and rain of Lebanon etc., and Skt bal- "strong". Indra of Hittites is a major deity in Bali and made a sacred pool for his troops to heal them. Danu was his mother).
The target expression "ring balin" is today a ceremonial journey along the Darling river of central Australia by Aboriginal people, following the creative pathway of the mighty warrior Ngurunderi who battled Parampari "powerful demon priest" (= Skt Parampara ?).
A legend says Balinese teachers sailed to east Australia and brought this influence to Aboriginal people.

Murrundi Ruwe Pangari Ringbalin - River Country Spirit Ceremony ...
http://treatyrepublic.net/.../murrundi- ... country-...
The Aboriginal peoples of the Darling and Murray Rivers are gathering for Murrundi Ruwe Pangari Ringbalin (Ngarrindjeri for River Country Spirit Ceremony).

sorry, dead link and I can't edit it..
new link. hope it works.
Murrundi Ruwe Pangari Ringbalin - River Country Spirit Ceremony
http://...treatyrepublic.net/.../murrun ... try-spir...‎
The Aboriginal peoples of the Darling and Murray Rivers are gathering for Murrundi Ruwe Pangari Ringbalin (Ngarrindjeri for River Country Spirit Ceremony).

The balin /balc killed Parampari and burned him on a fire, which is very unusual for Aboriginal culture. But resembles Beltane. Sanskrit bhumi means "earth, world" and near the Darling river is Boomi, a hot spring of water, as in Belenos /Apollo of healing springs. (Balinese bumi is bhumi. It's possible that Celtic lands observed the authentic Beltane as Aboriginals had Balin, but maybe not quite in the same centuries.