Hello I need help in translating an English phrase to Irish for a tattoo design I'm getting a Celtic Knot symbolizing a bond between father and daughter and the phrase is "A father's love for his daughter is eternal" I used Google Translate and this is what they came up with "Ta' gra' athar da' inion siorai" I was on another forum and was told that for the most part Google Translate is wrong and was told that in the Irish language this phrase would be impossible to translate but I did get a couple of alternatives that could possibly get my point across and mean the same thing this is what I got "gra' o' athair" which means love from a father....Is it possible to say something in Irish to mean "A father's love for his daughter is eternal"? Or something pretty close to the same? This tattoo has a very special meaning to me and I want it to be correct and proper honoring my daughter and my Irish heritage at the same time....My appointment is this Saturday at 1:00 pm....I would appreciate any help provided....Thanks....Oh and I also looking to have it in the true Irish alphabet but I'm having a hard time finding the complete and correct font so any help there would be great as well....Thanks

You're wise to be wary of Google Translate when translating into Irish (or any other language you don't yourself speak). It's best use is to translate the gist of something into your own language (and even then it will often produce oddities).

When in one language a definite article ("the") would not be used, it sometimes needs to be used when translating into a different language, and this is often the case when translating from English into Irish, or vice versa. I think this is one of those cases, and here's a suggested translation, but definitely wait for others to comment on or correct my translation:

Maireann grá den athair dá iníon go síoraí
A father's love ["the love of the father"] for his daughter endures eternally

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

Thanks so much....Hopefully I'll get more feedback as the week progresses....Also I'm looking to have the phrase using the Irish Gaelic alphabet but haven't had much luck finding downloadable content that's accurate and complete including the letters with accent....Any help would be greatly appreciated

@Caoimhín, 'Dé chúis ' bhfuil an réamhfhocal de agat anso, an gné chanúnach é?

Do bheadh maireann grá an athar dá iníon go síoraí agam, dá mba rud é go rabhas dh'iarrai' an ailt a chur leis?

I think it still works without the definite article though:

Maireann grá athar dá iníon go síoraí 'A father's love for his daughter is eternal'.

Also, is this the font you were looking for?

Maireann grá aṫar dá iníon go síoraí

This is called An Cló Gaelach or 'insular minuscule script'. Irish uses the Roman alphabet, even ogam is believed to based off of the Latin alphabet.


Wait for three more to agree etc...

Cian

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

Hello and thanks for your response....So would either version work? Yours seems to fit exactly what I'm looking for word for word though and as long as it's correct and proper I'll use it....Yes that's exactly the font I'm looking for but I can't seem to direct my tattooist to a site where they can download it....Where did you find it? Maybe I can go there? Thanks again

Please read reply before this one to understand....The font you suggested is exactly what I'm looking for however I would need to be able to download the complete version with accented letters as depicted in your translstion....Sorry to be a pain....Thanks again

Grammars insist on the impossibility of a subjective genitive in Irish (except for intransitive actions). They say there's only an objective genitive,
i.e. the genitive of a noun can only be the object of an action, not its subject.
Their standard example is "grá Dé" which can't be translated as "God's love" but only as "love for God"

Ó Dónaill gives this example (entry "grá"): An ~ atá ag Dia dúinn, God’s love for us.

So, "grá athar" would be the same, wouldn't it?

I'd say:
Maireann go síoraí an grá atá ag athair dá iníon
Maireann go síoraí an grá atá ag aṫair dá iníon

This sounds good to me.

Another possibility:

Is buan an grá atá ag athair dá iníon
Is buan an grá atá ag aṫair dá iníon

Await further input ...

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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).

Wow....I am truly humbled at the generous contributions of all of you and I really appreciate it immensely....I'm actually taking a little step back and thinking for a moment....This tattoo design will be located on my chest over my heart so I'm thinking it will be fairly decent in size to fit this phrase around the outside top portion of it....I'm hoping haha....I'll await further imput....Thanks again

Also would greatly appreciate a website where I can download complete An Clo' Gaelach alphabet with accented letters and correct font....I also have two and waiting on one more to agree with recent suggested translation....You guys rock!