I am hoping to find help in translating two simple phrases from English to Irish. The phrases are, "I want to go home" and "I need to go home". The phrases are simple on the surface, but the meaning I ascribe to them is somewhat metaphysical or poetical. I mean the desire or longing for home of one who is displaced from her land of birth. I also mean the desire for a home that is felt, but has never been physically experienced. I realize I have taken simple phrases and made them (unnecessarily) complicated, but I hope I have made my meaning the clearer. Thank you in advance for all your help.

I'm not exactly sure what you're asking. There are plenty of simple ways of saying "I want/need to go home", but how would they imply all the meaning you ascribe to it? What I mean to say is, is this a personal meaning you ascribe to the phrase "I want to go home"/"I need to go home", or is it something you want conveyed in the translation?

In any case, the simple answers to your question is:

Ba mhaith liom dul abhaile I want to go home
Caithfidh mé dul abhaile I need to go home.

I can second these.

Gumbi and Redwolf, thank you both for your help and I apologize for the confusion regarding my initial post. I am attempting to convey the notion of an individual using the words to mean something deeper than, "I want to return to the house where I live". The sense I am trying to include in the phrase is the longing for a place other than a physical structure, a dwelling place that the speaker cannot define, but it could include a house. Perhaps I'm hoping to express a feeling that isn't found in the original English; I'll give it another think. You can, however, tell me the difference between Caithfidh mé dul abhaile and Gá dom dul abhaile. Thanks again for your help.

The first one is correct; the second one I've never heard. "Gá" is a noun. I'm not saying it's incorrect, but it seems like an odd construction to me. Where did you get it?

For the rest, I think I understand what you're asking. The thing is, Irish is no more subtle than English when it comes to these things. There's no different way to phrase this that would, somehow, imply a more metaphysical meaning. That meaning comes from the person saying or reading the phrase, not from some subtlety in the language itself...does that make sense?

In other words, just as "I want to go home/I need to go home" in English can imply both "I want/need to return to the place where I live," and something deeper "Ba mhaith liom/caithfidh mé dul abhaile" can be just as prosaic or metaphysical as the speaker/reader intends.

Wait for more input.

Redwolf

Gá is usually used in the negative to say someone _doesn't_ need to do something.

Tá cumha orm i ndiaidh an bhaile. "I long for home."

(I agree with what has been said above, just throwing this out there as an alternative.)

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Múinteoir Gaeilge - Irish Teacher
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect, but I can also speak Ulster and Munster Irish with native-level pronunciation.
Is fearr Gaeilge ḃriste ná Béarla cliste, cinnte, aċ i ḃfad níos fearr aríst í Gaeilge ḃinn ḃeo na nGaeltaċtaí.
Gaeilge Chonnacht (GC), go háraid Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge (GCF), Gaeilic Uladh (GU), Gaelainn na Mumhan (GM), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).

I was going to suggest exactly this initially. It's good too! I was just trying to tease out what OP wanted translated exactly.

, Tá cumha orm i ndiaidh... is one of my favourite expressions.

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

I like this one as well.

Redwolf

My thanks to all for your wonderful feedback. I am happy (pleased) to see that we have come much closer to my intent: Tá cumha orm i ndiaidh an bhaile. "I long for home". I originally found, "Gá dom dul abhaile" through a translation site, but my past experiences have taught me it was unlikely a true translation. I know nothing of the Irish language, but something in the different construction between "Ba mhaith liom dul abhaile" and "Gá dom dul abhaile" caused me to sense the second was some how off (were my instincts correct or do I have too much faith in my amateur linguistics skills?). I prefer the version suggested by Breandán, thank you sir, because the phrase has the ability to suggest both want and need in the form of longing. Thank you all again, this has been a wonderful and educational experience.