I'm having a heck of a time with an idiomatic translation for this Christmas song. Any help appreciated!

Irish lyrics first...my attempt below (brackets are the bits I'm especially unsure of):

Rug Muire Mac do Dhia
Íosa Críost, Triath na Reann,
Maireann dá éis ’na hÓigh,
An bhean is dóigh do gach dall

Buime ’s Máthair Mhic Dé, Bhí
Bean mar í ní fhaca súil
Bean le’r oscladh Flaitheas Dé
Do mholfas mé ós gach dúil

Ní cosúil í le mnáibh
Muire Mhór, an bláth nach críon
Ní cosúil balsam le moirt,
Le lionn goirt ní cosúil fíon

Mary bore a son to God
Jesus Christ, Prince of [?]
Living ever after as a virgin
[The woman an example to the blind]

Caregiver and Mother of God's son,
A woman such as she was never seen
A woman who opened the gates of God's Heaven
That I would praise in every respect.

She is unlike [other] woman
Great Mary, the unwithered flower
[As balsam is unlike wine filled with bitter dregs.]

These are for liner notes, so I really, really don't want to get them wrong.

GRMA,

Redwolf

na Reann "of the stars/planets"

dóigh "source of expectation/hope" is dóigh "the greatest source of hope"

dall "an uninformed person"

Be sure to get confirmation before getting anything "inked".

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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).

maybe "The woman that is visible even to the blind"?
(since "is dóigh liom" = it seems/looks to me...)

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Is fearr Gaeilg na Gaeltaċta ná Gaeilg ar biṫ eile
Agus is í Gaeilg Ġaoṫ Doḃair is binne

Thanks guys. It's a gorgeous song, but also one of the more convoluted language-wise I've seen in a while. Songs are always a bit dicey anyway, because you run into so many older or local constructions, as well as poetic license.

What do you think about that last verse?

Redwolf

v2 -Do mholfas mé ós gach dúil > Whom I shall praise above all living things/creatures/creation. I only have Foclóir Póca and An Foclóir Beag (online version) - never quite got round to getting FGB or De Bhaldy - but I'm familiar with Dia na nDúl -'God of all creation'. However, if FGB gives 'in every respect', who am I to argue?

(I don't quite understand yon "Bhí)

v3 - lionn according to my FocPóc means "humour (of the body)", and An Foclóir Beag gives "colg, mighiúmar, crostacht" - so, literally: balsam/balm is not like dregs/lees; wine is not like "bitter humours", but I 'd say you've paraphrased it ok.

Thanks!

I'm not sure where that "Bhí" comes from either...definitely part of the text, though. I wonder if it was supposed to be "í"?

Redwolf

bhfuil tú cinnte go bhfuil síneadh fada os cionn an o in "os" ?

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Is fearr Gaeilg na Gaeltaċta ná Gaeilg ar biṫ eile
Agus is í Gaeilg Ġaoṫ Doḃair is binne

My understanding is that "os" can be written with or without a fada.

Redwolf

That "bhí" is definitely odd. I listened to a recording of the song by a different artist on-line, and there's definitely something there that begins with a "v" and ends with an "ee" sound (this other artist appears to be saying "vwee," which I assume is a southern pronunciation of "bhuí," but still doesn't seem to make sense in context).

The only thing I can think of is the "Bhí" belongs to the next line:

Bhí bean mar í ní fhaca súil

But it seems a very odd way to phrase it.

Redwolf

D. Webb (the author of the blog about Cork Irish) suggests that "Bhí" is an old genitive of "beó", so:
Máthair Mhic Dé Bhí = the mother of the son of living God.

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Is fearr Gaeilg na Gaeltaċta ná Gaeilg ar biṫ eile
Agus is í Gaeilg Ġaoṫ Doḃair is binne