How did the Lovable Irish Accent come about?

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Rossie

there are so many different Irish accents, people from cork sound completely different to people from dublin eg.

How did any accent come about?? The USA accents?? The french accents?? the russian accents?? the jamacian accents??

john n

There are a million accents in Ireland - which one do you mean?

A couple of thousand yerars ago people spoke a celtic language similar to that spoken in Britain at the time. Languages evolve because of migration, the passing of time, invasions and the development of new concepts and technologies. The Romans didn't invade Ireland nor did the Anglo Saxons. The Vikings did (about 1000 years ago) and so did the Anglo Normans (about 800 years ago)..

These people were actually assimilated into the Irish culture but left their mark, particularly in the East around Dublin. There is a very distinct accent in this area.

Later, Henry the 8th and Cromwell did a bit of conquering and eventually it became illegal to speak Gaelic. Lands in the North of Ireland were taken over by people from Scotland and lands in the South- West were planted by Welsh and South West Britons whose accents influenced the way people speak English in these areas.

The extreme West of Ireland largely remained 'Gaelteacht' (Irish Speaking) for two reasons - Firstly, it is very mountainous and was a difficult place to control, and secondly, there was no real wealth or natural resources or fertile land out there so nobody was really interested in the area.

These are just a few of the countless influences that affect the way everyone speaks..........

deburca98

The accent came about through the brogue. This being the manner in which words and letters are pronounced. Vowels are pronounced differently as reflected in Irish (the language, Gaelic is not the name of the language).Regional accents differ through out the country, I have not seen a film yet where an american actor could do a passable irish accent.
Here are some examples of butchered accents.

Newfound landers do have the vowel sounds that are similar to the irish brogue.
Far and away, one of the worst irish accents was Tom cruise` version. His character was from cork but spoke in a butchered didley dee leprecaun northern accent.
Brad pitt in the devils own, laughable attempt of an accent.

What ever accent you here on tv is not going to be accurate.

lone wolf and pub

deburca is bang on the money... especially about shite Irish accents in movies, I have yet to hear a passable Irish accent in anything...
the ones that reall do my head in are Leonardo di caprio in titanic and gangs of new york.( both are the worst Irish accet ever) and I went to see that piece of shite in the cinema and wanted to walk out after 30 mins.. it was embarrassing to watch
and then you have minnie driver trying to do the accent in good will hunting, when she is telling the irish joke about the old married couple ( absolute shite)
if you want to hear a decent Irish accent, you have to hear the real thing, Colin Farrell doesn't mess about..his accent in daredevil is exactly how most people from Dublin speak,
Gabriel Byrne is from Dublin as well, and he never changes it for movies
and Liam Neeson, is from the North of Ireland, you should be able to tell the difference between his accent and ours (Dublin)

Orla C

Which Irish accent are you talking about? There are many, and they vary per region.

Family Mediator

Some good answers so far ... but far too technical for my taste. No one 1500 or 1000 or 700 years ago was thinking about these influences. They just spoke from their hearts in their own pace and manner.

My belief is that each people's accent - especially the Irish - comes from their view of life. If they're harried and hurried, that is reflected in the way they speak. If they are more thoughtful and more concerned about the world around them, that, too, comes out in their speech patterns.

In the Irish voices, from north to south and in between, I hear a spirit that is in sync with their environment. Look around Ireland (even today!) and you see a peaceful, tranquil land of beauty and reflections. So, it's natural that the people who live in that environment would sound melodic, lyric, and jaunty.

evolvedintofeminist

DUH! The original language of the Irish people was Gaelic. When they learned English, they had that "lovable" accent. It stuck.

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