In short: there is no single Irish accent. Ireland packs dozens of distinct accents into a small island, from sing-song Cork to clipped Belfast. Here is a guide to the main ones, the features they share, and the funniest videos of Irish accents in action.
Ask people abroad to do an Irish accent and most will produce something between a leprechaun and Tom Cruise in ‘Far and Away’. Ask anyone in Ireland and they will tell you there is no such thing as one Irish accent. You can drive for an hour and hear something completely different, and Irish people can usually place each other’s county within a sentence or two.
Most of what makes Irish English sound Irish comes from the Irish language, which was the majority language on the island until the 1800s. Its sounds, grammar and rhythms survived in the English that replaced it.
In this guide
- What makes an Irish accent sound Irish
- The regional accents of Ireland
- Irish accents on video
- Is the Irish accent the sexiest in the world?
What makes an Irish accent sound Irish
Accents vary hugely, but some features turn up almost everywhere in Ireland:
- Th becomes t or d: ‘three’ sounds like ‘tree’ and ‘that’ like ‘dat’.
- The R is always pronounced: unlike in most of England, ‘car’ and ‘farm’ keep their R.
- Ye for ‘you’ plural: ‘Are ye coming?’ (and ‘yous’ in Dublin and the North).
- ‘After’ for something just done: ‘I’m after eating my dinner’ means you have just eaten it. This comes straight from Irish grammar.
- No simple yes or no: Irish has no single word for yes or no, so Irish English answers with the verb: ‘Are you going?’ ‘I am.’
- Grand: anything from ‘excellent’ to ‘not great but I’ll survive’.
For more of the words, see our guides to Irish slang and English words that come from Irish.
The regional accents of Ireland
Dublin
Dublin has at least two accents. The traditional inner-city and northside accent is quick, sharp and full of character, with ‘film’ said as ‘fil-um’ and ‘town’ stretched out to something like ‘tahn’. The ‘D4’ or southside accent, named after the Dublin 4 postcode, is softer and more international, and since the 1990s many young people across Ireland have drifted towards it.
Cork
Cork people are said to sing rather than speak. The accent rises and falls in a melody all its own, it is quick, and it comes with its own vocabulary: ‘boy’ as a term of address for anyone, ‘langer’ as an insult (or a compliment, depending on tone) and ‘like’ at the end of every second sentence, like.
Kerry and the south-west
Kerry accents are rich, rolling and slower than Cork, and in rural areas they can be among the hardest in Ireland for outsiders to follow. Some of the Gaeltacht areas of Kerry still have Irish as an everyday language, and its rhythms carry over into the English.
Galway, Mayo and the west
The west of Ireland accent is gentler and slower, the one many people outside Ireland picture when they think of a soft Irish brogue. Galway city is a mix of everything thanks to its students and visitors, but head into Connemara and you will hear English shaped by Irish.
The Midlands
The Midlands accent, from counties like Offaly, Westmeath and Longford, is flatter and less musical than the south and west. It does not get much attention in films, but plenty of Irish people would say it is the most ‘neutral’ of the rural accents.
Limerick and Clare
Limerick’s city accent is famously strong and direct, while rural Clare has a softer, slower sound and is home to some of the best storytellers in the country.
Belfast, Derry and the North
Northern Irish accents were shaped by Scottish settlers in the 1600s, so they sound quite different from the south. The Belfast accent is fast and clipped,, with vowel sounds that can puzzle even people from the rest of Ireland. Derry has a more musical lilt of its own.
Donegal
Donegal sits in the Republic but borders Northern Ireland and has deep links with Scotland, and you can hear both in the accent. Add in Gaeltacht areas where Irish is still spoken daily, and you get one of the most distinctive accents on the island.
Irish accents on video
The strongest Irish accent you’ll ever hear
Journalist Colm Flynn went to Killarney to track down a man said to have the strongest accent in Kerry. Subtitles may be required, even for Irish viewers.
Scottish accent vs Irish accent
An American who has travelled around both countries works through accents from Dublin, Cork, Northern Ireland and Scotland. It has had more than 11 million views, and the comments are nearly as good as the video.
The highest pub in Ireland
Creedon’s Top of Coom on the Cork and Kerry border is said to be Ireland’s highest pub. This Irish Examiner report from its reopening is worth it for the locals alone.
Tommy Tiernan: Accent and Emergency
Nobody captures Irish voices like Tommy Tiernan. Here he takes on accents in an Irish A&E department.
Tommy Tiernan on money
And one more from Tommy, on Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow for the BBC, on how Irish people handled having money.
Want to hear how the Irish themselves say tricky names? Try our audio guides to Irish boy names and Irish girl names. And for the opposite of authentic, here is our take on the worst Irish accents in film.
Is the Irish accent the sexiest in the world?
According to plenty of online polls, yes. The Irish accent regularly comes at or near the top of ‘most attractive accent’ surveys, usually alongside Scottish, Italian and French. Irish people tend to find this hilarious, especially anyone who has heard a Cavan farmer calling in the cattle.
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Featured photo: A street band in Temple Bar Square, Dublin by Jonathan Hutchins, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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