Hi there! I'm having a Claddagh ring made for my girlfriend, and I wanted to have "My Old Heart" engraved in Irish Gaelic on the inside, in reference to a song from our first date. I'm Irish by blood, and while I regrettably don't know much of the language, my heritage has always been important to me, and I thought she'd appreciate the translation given that.

I checked out the guidelines for translation requests, and I noticed the dialect option. I don't know if that even applies to such a short phrase, but if it does; From my understanding, my family originated in Munster. My last name is Curtin, which my grandfather always told me derived from MacCruitin, and based on my research the family originated in Co. Cork and Co. Clare. Anyway, I would be interested to hear how the dialect may change anything if it's even applicable to these three words. If not, standard is more than fine!

Any other knowledge anyone is willing to share would be more than appreciated! I'd really love to learn even more about my heritage and Irish language and culture.

Thanks so much!

Standard-Irish
mo sheanchroí / Mo Sheanchroí
mo ṡeanċroí / Mo Ṡeanċroí

Munster:
mo sheanachroí / Mo Sheanachroí
mo ṡeanaċroí / Mo Ṡeanaċroí

Thank you! May I ask how sure you are on that? Her birthday is coming up and I can't wait a long time for other replies.

I can second the Standard Irish one. I don't know Munster well enough to give that one a second, I'm afraid.

Redwolf

Quite sure.
But this doesn’t mean much. (I’m far from being a native speaker and so I often make mistakes I can’t recognize myself)
You should wait for confirmations.


The only difference (in spelling) here between Standard Irish (as well as Connacht and Ulster) and Munster dialects is an intervening vowel -a- [ə], so seana- instead of sean- (old).
[mə hanə'xri:] (Munster) vs. [mə 'hæ:nxri:] (Conamara)

I can "third" the translation which you've been given above.

Your research on the Curtin name is also correct. The old Irish form was Mac Cruitin, based on the word cruitin, meaning "hunchback" (most names of Gaelic origin are based on the name, nickname, or characteristics of an ancestor). The "u" and "r" sounds later became transposed, which can happen in many languages with certain letter combinations, and the Irish form became Mac Cuirtin. Its origin is in Munster, and particularly in County Cork, and it has been anglicized in various ways over the years as MacCruttin, MacCurtane, and Curtin, and even as O'Curtin.

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

Thanks so much! Would anyone be able to tell me how to pronounce it?

Roughly:

mo sheanchroí
muh HYAN-khree

mo sheanachroí
muh HYAN-uh-khree

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