Everybody loves an Irish accent, especially here in the U.S., but there isn't just one Irish accent. There are a number of different regional accents in Ireland, and if you develop an ear for them, you can tell pretty precisely where someone is from. From the mid-1990s until 2002, linguist Raymond Hickey traveled through all 32 counties of Ireland recording the voices of urban and rural speakers, of both genders, across three generations. They read from a set of sentences designed to target specific dialect features for purposes of comparison. You can listen to 15 samples, arranged on a map by origin, here.
To me, Donegal seems the best fit for our notion of ideal Irish, but they all have their charms. The Drogheda accent is so far from that ideal that if an American actor did an absolutely perfect rendition of it, he or she would only be laughed at for not getting "the Irish accent" right. Who knows, maybe there's a tiny, undiscovered hamlet where Justin Theroux's accent in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle makes sense:
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Ukraine-Russia: is peace deal possible after Easter truce?Today's Big Question 'Decisive week' will tell if Putin's surprise move was cynical PR stunt or genuine step towards ending war
-
The bougie foods causing international shortagesIn the Spotlight Pistachios join avocados and matcha on list of social media-driven crazes that put strain on supply chains and environment
-
Strep infections are rising in the USUnder the radar The cases have more than doubled in 10 years
