Hi all

My name is Rayna - I'm from New Zealand, but my Dad was born and raised in Belfast. He travelled here in the 60s, met my Mum (who is NZ Māori), and the rest, as they say is history :-)

Some months back before my sister passed away from cancer I had a tā moko (Māori tattoo) in honour of her fight with this horrible disease and our hopes she would pull through.

But we ended up losing my sister, so I am now wanting to get another tattoo - this time having the word "resilient" translated to Irish, and then the tattoo itself in Ogham (to recognise our Irish heritage). Although my sister lost the fight, her mental strength over the last two years was amazing. "Resilient" comes to mind for me because although her body was failing, she maintained strength, positivity and determination in her spirit. I hope to be as resilient as her and want to see a visual reminder every single day.

So...that's my request that I'd really appreciate your feedback/help on. I don't want to have a hit and miss experience with "google", but would rather have the advice and expertise of you all. Thank you so much in advance with much appreciation.

Rayna

I had to look in the dictionary for this, because I've never heard or seen the word used in Irish. There were several possibilities, but the best one for "resilient" seems to be athléimneach, which has a literal meaning along the lines of of "one who jumps/bounces anew/back". I'm not sure how traditional a word it is, because it looks like it might be a modern creation (there are many of those in modern Irtish), but it's very poetic sounding to me. If you prefer something shorter, there are various older words which can mean things like "hardy", "sturdy" and the like.

We suggest that you get agreement on something from at least three people before doing any inking, to be on the safe side.

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I'm not a native (or entirely fluent) speaker, so be sure to wait for confirmations/corrections, especially for tattoos.

Hello again

I've been looking online some more and came across the English-Irish dictionary site https://www.focloir.ie/en/

When looking for "resilient", the following translation came up which is the context I am after:

resilient
1 adjective (of person) mentally strong
"acmhainneach"
the children were more resilient to adversity "bhí acmhainn níos fearr ag na páistí ar an anás"
to be resilient to stress "acmhainn a bheith agat ar strus, bheith ábalta strus a sheasamh, bheith ábalta ag strus"

My question then is would "acmhainneach" be appropriate?..

Thanks in advance :-)

Hoping this gets on someone's radar

Thanks!!

Hi,

Heartfelt condolences regarding your sister.

Yes, acmhainneach, does mean 'resilient', as you say: https://www.teanglann.ie/en/fgb/acmhainneach *

After hearing about your sister's struggles, another possibility would be meanma 'mental encourage/ spirit' (see under 2): https://www.teanglann.ie/en/fgb/meanma *

Although, achmhainneach, and athléimneach (never heard that one before) seem to be just as appropriate for 'resilient'.

Wait for further feedback

*By the way, if you click on the links I've given, there's an option to hear how the words are pronounced in the three main dialects. Look above the alphabet, last option on the right-hand side.

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