Cá bhfuil mar gháirfinn amárach, nuair nach dtig an aoibh féin inniu liom!

Meangadh gáire would be preferred in Connemara than ''miongháire''.

Cloisfidh tú an dá fhocal, a Bhenjamin - either term is fine.

In Connemara mion infront of words is not really used, beag is used.

For example miongháire would be gáire beag, mionchanúint is canúint beag etc.

(canúint bheag)

That's fine as a general rule of thumb but you will hear 'miongháire'. I haven't time just now but I'm sure I could dig you out some literary sources without too much trouble.

Alright that will be interesting thank you.

Some Connemara alternatives to miongháire:

straois "smile"
fiodgháirí "faint smile"
meathgháire "faint smile"
smaidhl "smile"
straoisín "small smile or grimace"
strainc "smile, grimace"

(Source The Irish of Iorras Aithneach County Galway, DIAS 2007)

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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).

Personally I've never liked ''miongháire''. It sounds like a coined word to me.
I don't know if anybody ever noticed but I've never suggested it on that other forum.

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It is recommended that you always wait for three to agree on a translation.
I speak Connemara Irish, and my input will often reflect that.
I will do an mp3 file on request for short translations.
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Yes straois can mean smirk, grin.

Bhí straois go cluais air = He was smiling broadly

Tomás de Bhaldraithe doesn't mention 'miongháire' in his excellent vocabulary Foirisiún Focal as Gaillimh (perhaps because it's not specifically a Connemara word or usage) but he includes a good handful of other 'mion' words, from mionbháisteach (light rain) and mionfhraoch (a kind of dwarf heather) to mionritheach (jogging). In light of this (and on my own experience) I don't think it's fair to say that Connemara "doesn't use" the prefix.
Having said that, na Muimhnigh are far more addicted to it in my experience...

What I have noticed (and I'd be interested to know if others notice the same thing) is that Irish doesn't make the same distinction between a laugh and a smile that English does. It doesn't help here, since the distinction is crucial to this translation, but in general if I wanted to say that someone smiled at me I'd say 'rinne sé gáire liom' - I wouldn't feel the need to specify whether his 'gáire' was audible or not.

In fact all of the words I can think of for 'smile' - 'miongháire' among them - could equally well mean a giggle, or perhaps a quiet, shy, or forced laugh. If you want to make it clear in Irish that you are talking about a facial expression, you have to use words to that effect - 'straois an gháire', 'aoibh an gháire' or some such. Literally you're saying that someone has 'made a laughing-face'.

Here's blind Raiftearaí in the song 'Baile Uí Laí'. A beautiful woman has just invited him home to help empty the drinks cabinet. Does he laugh? Does he smile? Who knows and, honestly, what's the difference?
Nuair a fuair mé an tairiscint, níor lig mé ar cairde é
ach rinne mé gáire agus gheit mo chroí
Ní raibh le gabháil againn ach trasna páirce
Níor thug muid an lá ann go tóin an tí . . .