Dia dhuit

I am very early in my journey to learn Irish. I am hoping to learn a lot from this forum. For now I have a specific translation request. A dear friend of mine is an Jesuit priest and he is about to finish an Education degree where he focuses on working with high school age boys from inner city Detroit. Many of who are often dismissed or even feared by society. My friend is a phenomenal teacher and mentor for these young men. To celebrate his success I have made him a shillelagh. I want to inscribe on it...

"He who shepherds lions"

He is Irish-American and his family comes from Kildare. I am not sure what the best dialect would be in terms of his family so I suppose Standard Irish (CO) would be best but I am open to suggestions if there is a better dialect for Kildare.

Go raibh maith agat

I’d say (CO):

An té a dhéanann aoireacht ar leoin

Thank you!