Hello there. I am looking for a translation for the word "Roughneck" or "Roughnecks"

The tattoo is in memory of a friend of mine. He was very proud of his Irish heritage (had a couple Irish-themed tattoos himself) so I think he would be pleased to see me get something written in Irish.

It's a reference to a group from the movie "Starship Troopers" a goofy satire from the 90s. We called each other roughnecks when we were kids. For those unaware, it means basically means "tough guys."

I've found a couple different translations online. Google says "muineálaí" Another website said:
"garbhánach" or "tútachán" with the following example: they fell out with the local roughnecks: thit siad amach le scroblach na háite

Any thoughts or advice you have is greatly appreciated. Thank you all so much!

I think the word "rógaire" pl. "rógairí" meaning "rogues" would be good.
There is also the option of using a sentence like "We were real rogues/roughnecks":
Rógairí ceart a bhí ionainn.

Make sure you get more input on this here and elsewhere, double and triple check
to get what you really want. It may take a lot of time but it's worth it to be safe.

Cheers,

Tim

Thanks Tim! I actually really like that sentence.

So would you say those other translations I came across are nonsensical?

This is the problem with translations. The nuance you want doesn't always fit what is offered in dictionaries.

"muineálaí" is more or less a literal translation for "of the neck" or "cervical". That's definitely not what you want.

The other two mean literally "coarse person". The sentence you gave sounds a bit like a direct translation from English "to fall out" and doesn't sound right to me. Also, "scroblach" means "riff-raff", "vermin" and the like.

I assume you're looking for a rather positive meaning so there may be other possibilities. For now, my suggestion stands although not in concrete.

This looks like it catches the spirit of your intent

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