Irish Accents

mindurownbusnes

I have recently being doing some travelling of the west of Ireland and I have noticed that every few miles you go, the accent is different.
How come Irish accents and all county accents are different?

I have to say, the strongest accents are Dublin(my favourite), Cork(I love that accent), Donegal, parts of Galway Waterford kinda like Dublin and Wexford(like northern ireland surprisingly

Does anyone find Leitrim have a strong accent?

Exit

Both Ireland and the UK have very different accents, even just a few miles down the road.

The reason for this is because both places have had thousands of years of evolution of language, speech and dialect.

In somewhere like the US, the place has only been inhabited by English speaking people for 200 years at most, and 100 years in some places, thus the accents there haven't evolved very differently. For instance, a Seattle accent could conceivably be mistaken for an Orlando accent, despite being on different sides of the country.

Repli

Wexford and NI accents are nothing alike!!! Wtf??

mindurownbusnes

I;m Probably wrong. I was only ever there once. It did sound like it to me at the time.

is_that_so

There's a sensitivity about accents in these parts and offence is taken easily.

dimerocks

mindurownbusnes wrote:

Does anyone find Leitrim have a strong accent?

my dads from leitrim and its an accent but not a big one,you wouldnt be able to pick it out.the difference between it and somewhere like cavan is unatural. cavan people ive meet have a very thick accent.
I love how when we go abroad to our accents become more pronounced andwhen we are drunk we talk much louder.

Stephen

I've noticed that with some Wexicans, some of 'em sound like nordies, some don't. Must depend on what part of wexford they're from.

TerrorFirmer

Everyone can tell instantly whether someone is generally from Dublin or Cork. Most of the other areas, vary hugely. For instance, no one can ever tell that I am from Galway.

deisedevil

Tommy Tiernan: the cork accent is like a knacker talking french. lol,he's a gas man. Tis strange alright the way just down the raod an accent could be very different. i'm from a town in waterford and live in waterford city now. people in waterford city know straight away that i'm not from the city and when i go home, less than half hour away the lads are always sayin i'm picking up a waterford city accent. I always thought it was the same in most country's though? in france it def is anyways and spain as far as i know.
I think the louth accent is gas(no offence, i mean it in a nice way,i like he accent) how's she goin hay or no bodder hay,lol.

nesf

MobileInfantry wrote:

Everyone can tell instantly whether someone is generally from Dublin or Cork. Most of the other areas, vary hugely. For instance, no one can ever tell that I am from Galway.

Not necessarily true. There is a "strong" Cork accent, but not everyone from Cork has it. It's the same I suspect with Dublin.

iguana

nesf wrote:

Not necessarily true. There is a "strong" Cork accent, but not everyone from Cork has it. It's the same I suspect with Dublin.

It's the same with everywhere. Every area tends to have people with varying degrees of accent. From people with a strong local accent, to people with what I'd call neutral-Irish. Most people in Ireland can't tell where in Ireland someone with a neutral accent is from but most foreign people who would recognise an Irish accent could tell they are from Ireland.

nesf

iguana wrote:

From people with a strong local accent, to people with what I'd call neutral-Irish. Most people in Ireland can't tell where in Ireland someone with a neutral accent is from but most foreign people who would recognise an Irish accent could tell they are from Ireland.

Apparently I'm one of those. Some can say where I'm from, some can't. Some even get the country wrong.

*shrugs*

Bard

Most people I meet say I'm from Dublin. They are, of course, WRONG. A lot of those people say I'm from Dublin 4. Their reason for this is that I (apparently) am very well spoken - speak with a very "educated" voice - sound like I took elocution lessons. Well, they're not THAT far off the mark - I DID take elocution lessons (- as a kid)... and I did live in Dublin for a good chunk out of my live. I guess that drilled the Limerick accent out of me - for the most part.

So yes, I'm from Limerick, although most people wouldn't guess that - which is fine by me. I'm neither proud nor ashamed of the fact that I'm from Limerick - but I don't think I really hold on to that particular accent much in the way I speak now. I guess I'm fairly suggestible and pick up accents fairly easily without realising it.

Nowadays I live in Dundalk and find myself coming out with little Dundalk-isms and pronouncing words like a Dundalk person the odd time. Sometimes, in the back of my mind, something says "stop saying it like that, say it like you always did!" - a classic example being how I ended up saying "cook" or "book" (rhyming with "fluke" rather than, say, "shook")... and THAT... is something I shall have to remedy! - for the simple reason that I don't want to be quite so adaptable - I don't want to just "fit in" and adopt the accent of the place I'm living in ;- instead, I just want to be myself, stand out (to some degree), and speak as I always did.

Very few people pick out the Limerick-isms in my speech, although to a tiny degree, they are still there. Some people do notice it and decide that I'm from that part of the world and I always respect these people ;- wherever I live and however my voice may have been influenced down through the years, - I'll never deny my roots.

I'm just glad I don't have a "thick" accent of any description (especially Limerick, Cork, or inner-city Dublin. No disrespect to those places, but the 'thick' accents from there really grate on the ears). I'd like to think that I have what I'd describe as a relatively 'flat' accent, although those who say I've a "D4" accent would, I'm sure, beg to differ. Strangely, it's only when someone thinks I've a "D4" accent that I feel slightly insulted. It's not hard to imagine that some accents actually make you question the intelligence of the person speaking... even the D4 one.

I've a fairly deep voice, I don't have a 'thick' accent of any description, I'm fairly easily understood, I'm "well spoken" (i.e.: I've an excellent grasp of the language itself and it's broad versatility) and I think I come across as relatively intelligent. That's good enough for me

Nightwish

this will probably cause offence, so sorry. I HATE the Dublin accent in all its forms -raw and posh/americanised D4. I dont really like the wexford or waterford accents either. I love the North co. Galway accent and the Cavan accent. dead sexy

deisedevil

Nightwish wrote:

this will probably cause offence, so sorry. I HATE the Dublin accent in all its forms -raw and posh/americanised D4. I dont really like the wexford or waterford accents either. I love the North co. Galway accent and the Cavan accent. dead sexy

I ain't offended by wat ya said but was wonderin what in the waterford accent gets to ya. i'm honestly not annoyed or anythin just interested.

Nightwish

deisedevil wrote:

I ain't offended by wat ya said but was wonderin what in the waterford accent gets to ya. i'm honestly not annoyed or anythin just interested.

dunno. Prob just that I worked with a girl from waterford and listening to her did my head in. now every time I hear someone talk like her I just wanna scream sorry

deisedevil

Nightwish wrote:

dunno. Prob just that I worked with a girl from waterford and listening to her did my head in. now every time I hear someone talk like her I just wanna scream sorry

Lol, i know watcha mean. you got nothin to be sorry bout.

dimerocks

Nightwish wrote:

dead sexy

i just imagined you saying that in a cavan accent and found it hilarious.

trishw78

I'm from just outside (across da bridge actually) Waterford and I HATE the Waterford accent can't stand it and I try not to use Waterford-isms... Most people strangly think I'm from somewhere else... or they thing I'm posh

ciaran76

I actually noticed that before too about people from the ARklow to Wexford area some sounding slightly Northie. As a person who's family is from the North and lived in Monaghan for a time i think i would have know the difference.

I have since met a good few people from Arklow but most don't seem to have this northie twang. Its just something i noticed before and i hope people don't take it as an offence.

MorningStar

Nightwish wrote:

this will probably cause offence, so sorry. I HATE the Dublin accent in all its forms -raw and posh/americanised D4. I dont really like the wexford or waterford accents either. I love the North co. Galway accent and the Cavan accent. dead sexy

The Galway accent is alright but the Cavan accent I find makes people actually sound a bit slow.
I like the Cork accent but can't stand the way the speak. Sticking "boy" at start and end of every sentence makes you sound dim and like you have some speech problem. It's funny how when in Cork they say it all the time but once they are in Dublin the cop really quickly that it is irritating all around them.
Basically any accent that overpowers the words being spoken is horrible.

Mossy Monk

living in Waterford City for a year and a half now i have come to realise that the Waterford City accent is one of the worst i have ever heard along with the Dublin accent (all of them) and the Cork accent

Tobias Greeshman

Most of the Irish accents don't really get to me except the Wexford accent (can't stand that accent, sounds soooo boggerish and slow) and the Cavan accent to a certain degree too, it just gets right under my skin.

I used to hate the Dublin accent but living up here I hear it every day so I dont mind it so much now. And Id love to hate that Cork accent but its so damn funny.

adonis

i hate all culchie accents...

Pighead

Pighead wishes he were posh.Then he'd be able to speak proper.Instead i'm cursed with this monotonic inaudible drone of an accent.Don't worry about it Pighead,its not all about how you speak,its what you say thats important.WRONG
Accents reflect the unique characteristics and background of a person. Many people take great pride in their accents. And rightly so,a nice clear well spoken accent fuels the confidence of the speaker. However, Pighead encounters difficulties communicating because of his accent. These difficulties include:

* People not understanding him-If i had a cent for evertime somebodys said to me "What the fcuk are you talking about Pighead?"
* Avoiding social interaction with those that may not understand you-I've decided to cut down on my social engagements and concentrate on boards for the next year or two
* Frustration from having to repeat yourself all the time-I'm worn out at this stage,it takes its toll having to speak twice as much as you had planned to.
* People focusing on your accent more than on what you are trying to say-Yeah yeah,go ahead and giggle at the mumbler you nasty nasty people

These types of communication problems have negative effects on Pigheads job performance, educational advancement, and everyday life activities. It also negatively impact his self-esteem.Everybody hates me For all of these reasons, Pighead wants to modify or change his accent.Its just a matter of finding one that suits
By the way did you know that the Liverpool scouse accent is a mish mash of the Yorkshire and Dublin accents.Strange but true

CathyMoran

My accent is neutral, it has slight tones of D4, south DART, US and Northern but a lot of people can not tell that I am Irish...I have been told that it is a clear voice and I have ended up becoming friends with people who were trying to learn english. Personally I think that accents can be wonderful, I adore the northern accent for example, though it is the deepness and huskiness of the voice that can be very attractive in men.

danniemcq

i'm in galway now and everyone i meet gets my donegal accent straight away (granted some can't understand it but they all know it)

Pighead

Pighead thinks he'll adopt the northern accent for himself, some say it is the deepness and huskiness of the voice that can be very attractive to women.
I love the accents people speak in English! I think they are beautiful! For example, the French accent is full of connatations of love and romance. Those with certain British accents are thought to be educated and intelligent.Those with Westmeath accents are thought to be knowledgeable in fertiliser and slurry Granted, there are accents which are unfortunately and unjustly stereotyped, too. Personally, I think having an accent is akin to having a conversation starter.

deisedevil

Pighead wrote:

By the way did you know that the Liverpool scouse accent is a mish mash of the Yorkshire and Dublin accents.Strange but true

Ya, i remember a college lecturer(must have been awake for once) saying that before and gave an example, in liverpool they say 'smashin' a lot, apparently it comes from the amount of irish that were in liverpool,when they thought something was good they would say 'is maith sin'(irish for that's good) which over the years was shortened to smashin.

Skud

some parts of the country could esaily be explained by the invasions in history, the ulster plantation, the influx of the scots (mainly) is why that accent evolved so differently than the south. Then the different dialects with Irish clans and chieftans, however the introduction of T.V. might make people lose their accents. It sad but they'll possibly become very similar and less toned down over the years. Let's hope that doesnt happen but it certainly wont in our lifetime

stormkeeper

I've had people ask if I was from America the odd time, a lot of people think I'm from D4 as well, though I thought it was because I retained some English in my accent, despite living ere for 17 years. Oddly enough, while Londoners think I'm Irish, I have people from Manchester thiking I'm from Oxfordshire and Cambridgeshire, yet I was originally from Brighton. Funnier again, an American friend of mine thinks I sound similar to a guy from Leixlip (I've lived in Naas pretty much most of my life, asides from 4 years in the UK), then some think I have a neutral East Coast accent...

It's downright confusing really, as I dunno how to answer "Where do you come from?", considering people either think I'm Irish, British or American.... lol

SprostonGreen

The only time the Waterford accent has annoyed me, was from "Mossy" the Gift Grub character. I dont know if everyone from down there speaks like that, but this particular guy is irritating. That said, the place itself if great.

My Sligo town accent has worn away over the years, since moving to Dublin, but since the rise of Westlife, I'm kinda glad. However when I go back there, it comes out of the closet for a dust down, its weird.

The Cork accent on a girl is sexy.

Exit

Skud wrote:

some parts of the country could esaily be explained by the invasions in history, the ulster plantation, the influx of the scots (mainly) is why that accent evolved so differently than the south. Then the different dialects with Irish clans and chieftans, however the introduction of T.V. might make people lose their accents. It sad but they'll possibly become very similar and less toned down over the years. Let's hope that doesnt happen but it certainly wont in our lifetime

Television can't affect someone's accent (unless they voluntarily choose to speak like someone on television). It can introduce new words and phrases to your lexicon, but it can't change your accent. The reason for this is because your accent is determined by the people you speak to, not the people you hear on TV. Basically, accents come from conversation, hence why if you're brought up in Donegal then you have a Donegal accent, etc.

sleepingbeauty

Kennett wrote:

I've had people ask if I was from America the odd time, a lot of people think I'm from D4 as well, though I thought it was because I retained some English in my accent, despite living ere for 17 years. Oddly enough, while Londoners think I'm Irish, I have people from Manchester thiking I'm from Oxfordshire and Cambridgeshire, yet I was originally from Brighton. Funnier again, an American friend of mine thinks I sound similar to a guy from Leixlip (I've lived in Naas pretty much most of my life, asides from 4 years in the UK), then some think I have a neutral East Coast accent...

yeah ive got the EXACT same thing. i born in england but moved to naas when i was 6, lived here for 14years, so ive got an irish accent with slight bits of english (think thats because my parents have english accents so being around them a lot ive probably kept some of it). sometimes apparently ive got a bit of an american twang because of the mixture between english and irish pronunciations. my accent confuses people a lot lol, everyone time i meet someone new im just waiting for them to ask me about it- i know they will and they always do :rolleyes:

agreeing with CathyMoran northern accent in guy is lovely, dead sexy

Lemlin

I'm from Cavan and have a Cavan accent. Near the Meath border but its not as strong as people who live on the other side of Cavan near Leitrim.

I've never heard anyone describe it as sexy though. If anything, people tell me that Cavan people sound like we are singing the words because we drag them out!

vector

I think some irish accents sound a bit gay, for example there was a program called DIY dad on RTE a few days ago with a skinny guy from the midlands he was married and I'm not making personal comments but that type of accent whereever it is from sounds a bit g

Nightwish

Lemlin wrote:

I've never heard anyone describe it as sexy though. If anything, people tell me that Cavan people sound like we are singing the words because we drag them out!

I know someone from Cootehill and its the sexiest accent ever

simu

Nightwish wrote:

I know someone from Cootehill and its the sexiest accent ever

Ew! Coote-hies!

Nightwish

simu wrote:

Ew! Coote-hies!

lol

up for anything

Bard wrote:

It's not hard to imagine that some accents actually make you question the intelligence of the person speaking... even the D4 one.

Surely you meant to say especially the D4 one.

scojones

A chick with a northern ireland accent is a big turn on for me. mmmhmmm.

20 Times 20 Times

The dundalk accent is terrible when you hear it on radio/tv

The Bollox

the Dundalk accent does my nut! I hate it

Ravage1616

I from kilkenny, was in cork last year talkin to these girls and they knew i was from kilkenny from my accent!

I don't think kilkenny really has an accent!!

deisedevil

Ravage1616 wrote:

I from kilkenny, was in cork last year talkin to these girls and they knew i was from kilkenny from my accent!

I don't think kilkenny really has an accent!!

Ye don't, ye just robbed Waterfords one,lol !

Lemlin

The Drogheda accent is minging. I remember watching that show filmed there, Love Is The Drug, and there was a girl in it with a really thick Drogheda accent.

She was terrible looking anyway but it made her so much more ugly. I remember her turning to the young fella she was about to ride and saying "Weeeeell, do you wannaaaa or whaaaaa!?".

I shudder to even think of it.

NineMoons

I've always had a problem hanging onto an accent. Neither of my parents are from Sligo and I don't think any of us kids picked up the Sligo accent too strongly. (Sidebar - I never thought the Sligo accent was madly distinctive but it's hard to judge when that's where you're from. Any thoughts?) People used to think I was American when I was a child. When I got to college, I hated that and started concentrating on having some sort of accent that was recognisably Irish in some way, except for when I had to speak in front of the class or for work, when I wanted to make sure people could understand me. After a year in Scotland (valiantly trying not to pick up an Edinburgh accent, which is extra hard cos it's sounds so nice!), I had de-accented myself again because my friends there weren't native English-speakers so I was always pronouncing stuff carefully so they'd have an easier time understanding.

Both my sister and I pick up accents from people we spend a lot of time with. This terrifies me because not only is my long-term boyfriend from outside Dhraaaaawda, but I now live there. He spent 6 years in Dublin and didn't have too strong an accent but his mother and one of his brothers have horrible accents! And now that we live here, not only do I find myself saying "no bodder" but I hear him saying "aw hee-arh" (that's ah, here!) sometimes and I have visions of me 20 years down the road with a brood of children speaking like their tongues are swollen, telling them to "chome in for thuh dhinn-ayer".

Regarding Love is the Drug, I watched a bit cos I was living here after all and I noticed that none of the main cast bothered to have Drawda accents. Just some of the minor characters. I just thought if they were going to set the series outside Dublin, they could have made a bit more effort. Although maybe the main family in it had moved from Dublin? I didn't watch enough of it to know.

ergo

yeah I'd probably be in the "neutral" category

grew up not far from Arklow but not in the town so didn't pick up the strong Arklow accent ("thank feck" some might say but I don't find it too offensive, and yeah, it definitely has a northern twang), another reason for this probably cos my Dad's from Kildare

but haven't lived at home for nearly 10 years so have probably been neutralised a bit since, last time I was at home for a month or so it was commentd that I was thowing out the Arklow twang when I got back to Dub

some people from WX said I had a wexford town accent at one point but most people might think Dub (but never been accused of D4 thank feck!)

so yeah, am neutral, the accent gets a great response in Australia and the US, can be a great ice-breaker,

I remember being in a bar with a guy from Donegal and he had a really strong hardcore Donegal accent, so strong the Aussie girl was convinced he had to be putting it on, he was fairly bemused at that! she believed me cos I suppose she thought an aussie guy wouldn't be able to put on a less-strong Irish accent like my one but just wouldn't believe him!

and I think, along with globalisation, the accents will change, and TV will have a lot to do with it but not in our lifetime

all the D4 heads soundling like americans "hello" "shut up" etc and the raised intonation at the end of every sentence, not good

I wonder how many accents there are in Ireland, I know Ray D'arcy's show was picking from 12 irish accents to decide the nicest one, duno how that ended up

I've met girls from Kerry and one from Roscommon (of all places) with accents you would nearly marry just for the accent but I suppose everyone's different

CuLT

I've got the neutral (but distinctively Irish to foreigners) accent (from Dublin). I think a lot of it comes from little colloquialisms that most Irish people have without even realising it.

"Thanks a million" or "thanks a mil' " are normal expressions but I've actually gotten the odd American snicker at it. I think putting "Sure" as a prefix to a sentence marks you out as Irish straight off the bat

deisedevil

CuLT wrote:

I've got the neutral (but distinctively Irish to foreigners) accent (from Dublin). I think a lot of it comes from little colloquialisms that most Irish people have without even realising it.

"Thanks a million" or "thanks a mil' " are normal expressions but I've actually gotten the odd American snicker at it. I think putting "Sure" as a prefix to a sentence marks you out as Irish straight off the bat

Sure to be sure to be sure,lol.

snickerpuss

Exit wrote:

The reason for this is because your accent is determined by the people you speak to, not the people you hear on TV. Basically, accents come from conversation, hence why if you're brought up in Donegal then you have a Donegal accent, etc.

I don't think thats necessarily true, i'm from coolock on the northside and so really i should have a dodgey northside accent but somehow i ended up being "well-spoken" and got SO much abuse about it when i was a kid, the years of being "the posh one". I'm not even sure how that happened.