Hello All,

I'm hoping to get some assistance in creating a Gaelic phrase to go on a sweatshirt for my wife, Anne Marie, who is of Irish descent.
I am taking her to Ireland for the first time this Fall to celebrate her 50th birthday.

Something silly or preferably funny.

I tried a few things on Google translate, but when I reverse the translation back to English, it's never quite right.
Phrases I'm considering, but this is evolving:

Please excuse my ignorance, I'm American
Please be nice to me, I'm American, a Ginger, and it's my 50th Birthday

By the time we leave, she will be a first time Grandmother. I may want something referencing that.
My needs are few, nothing offensive, either to her or the locals, and being a retired teacher myself, grammatically correct.

Thank you in advance. We are SO looking forward to this trip.

Regards,
Bill

Great fun. I will be back if I think of something clever.

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ЯГОН ТОҶИК НЕСТ ИНҶО???

Some fairly literal suggestions:

Maith dhom é go bhfuil mé i m'aineolaí. Is Méiriceánach mé.
Please excuse me for being ignorant. I'm American.

Expressions in Irish with the word "birthday" can be a bit awkward, so I altered that part:

Bí lách dom, le do thoil. Is Méiriceánach mé, is bean rua mé, agus tá mé caoga bliain d'aois.
Please be nice to me. I'm American, I'm a ginger woman, and I'm 50 years old.

If you want to throw in the grandmother part, you could add into the list:

is seanmháthair mé
I'm a grandmother
or:
Is mamó mé
I'm a grandma

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

I wouldn't see any need for "é", because é = go bhfuil ... here.
So I'd write Maith dhom go bhfuil ...
But there is é in the EID: Excuse my being late, maith dhom é mé a bheith deireanach

Surprisingly there's no example for maith dhom (é) go ... in corpas.focloir.ie, there are only nouns and verbal noun phrases to be excused, so I wonder if Maith dhom go works at all.

So, perhaps better:
Maith dhom mé a bheith i m’aineolaí
or, acc. to EID
Maith dhom é mé a bheith i m’aineolaí
or shortened
Maith dhom é mé i m’aineolaí

Thank you, thank you, thank you!
This is a great start.
Doing the math, it seems like I need a shorter phrase, or the letters will be too small.

How about we maximise the alliteration:

Maitheas agus maiteachas -- is Meiriceánach mé
(goodness and forgivingness - I'm an American)

Would be better with a verb, but I can't think of anything with an 'm' that fits

lig mo leibideacht liom -- táim ag sárú an leathchéid inniu
(let me have my idiocy -- i'm passing 50 today)

or am I trying too hard for alliteration?
honestly those might be too far of stretches

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ЯГОН ТОҶИК НЕСТ ИНҶО???

Something simple and fun:

Tá mé i mo mhamó !
"I am a Grandma!"


Or you could do the "pair look" thing:

(Her sweatshirt says)
Tá seisean ina dhaideo !
HE's a grandad !

(Your sweatshirt says)
Tá sise ina mamó !
SHE's a grandma !

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WARNING: Intermediate speaker - await further opinions, corrections and adjustments before acting on my advice.
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect.
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), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).