# Ireland's Worst Accent



## daltonr (3 Feb 2005)

I don't know why I feel compelled to write this, I don't want to insult anyone (although I probably will).   I just can't keep this to myself any more:

Is the Drogheda, Dundalk accent Ireland's worst?

You know the one, Let's call it the Brendan Ogle accent.  Although to be fair to the man his isn't the worst form of it.
There was a guy on Pat Kenny's show this morning talking about Recycling and it finally tipped me over the edge.

I can't stand it.   Am I alone?    Is there counselling or other help available?  

Again apologies if I'm offending anyone,  I have in my time known one or two people from the area and they were lovely people, but damn that accent sucks.

Is it officially Ireland's worst?   I think it would be in with a shout of a European or even World gold medal in the Bad Accent Championships.

-Rd


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## TarfHead (3 Feb 2005)

I'm a Dub, who lived in Dundalk for two years.
IMHO, the Dub accent is worse. The avoidance of consonants and the use of the F-word as a noun, verb, adjective, etc. puts it way ahead of all other contenders.
The Limerick City accent (think Jim Kemmy) is fairly bad and there's a drawl from around the Wexford Carlow area that grates on the nerves, but the Dub accent is by far the worst.


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## ajapale (3 Feb 2005)

*"Plummy" Northern Ireland Accents* like the the former Westminster correspondent on TV. Do you know the one I mean? full of strangulated vowels and constonants. I think it might be from South Down but Im not sure.

*The Kilgarvan Accent* as spoken by Jackie Healy Rae. Dont get me wrong there are many fine Kerry accents (for example the gaelic sports commentator Miheal o'M , Dick Spring, ect). but I dont like the Kilgarvan Accent because it is slurred and difficult to understand.

What criteria would you like us to consider when proposing the worst accent in Ireland. Understandability? Irritation Factor? Speed, Pitch, Inflection or just overall artistic merit.

Incidently what kind of accent does Shane Ross, Kevin Myers and David Norris have?

ajapale


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## coolaboola (3 Feb 2005)

D4 ... hands down!  Roooight?


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## jdwexford (3 Feb 2005)

a skangy wexford townie accent is pretty bad..
(ow!!)


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## doobey (3 Feb 2005)

*what a useless post, and started by a moderator!!!!!!*

have you an oh so perfect accent rdalton? annoying accent? more like an annoying post. what a waste of time and such snobbery.

maybe it should be what they say, not the way they say it, or how it sounds to such sensitive ears.

unbelievable.


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## Natchessmen (3 Feb 2005)

*Accents*

AJP

The guy is Fergus O'Rahalaigh (sp??)  he has a very similar accent to the BBC commentator John Cole.


Doobey, Rleax bye  he's only letting off steam after all, and he did issue a warning.

Nat


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## doobey (4 Feb 2005)

*accents*

to be honest, i'm a very relaxed person until the other night, a typical Dub started on about my accent (Cork). been a sore point since then, mainly because of the arrogance shown to me by him. daltonr was rubbing a still very raw nerve. assumption that daltonr is a very arrogant Dub bringing up how annoying he finds his fellow countrymen and women, may be wrong, and I apologise if so. however the post did come across as quite arrogant

natchessman, are you by any way from Cark? adding bye gives it away but check the spelling, it may just be baei?!!


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## ninsaga (4 Feb 2005)

*worst of the worst*

..has to be the affluent 'english' accents used in Irish TV & radio advertising. Anyone hear the radio add for some Property Investor news paper where you have these muppets bidding ..300,000 ...500,000! etc..... )a load a bollix...

..closer to home it has to be the dub accent....I also don't like the Northern Ireland accent or the Dundalk accent or the Wexford accent..or the Ceavin accent....
...that about sums it up for me really  

ninsaga


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## 90210 (4 Feb 2005)

*D1*

I think the post creates a focus on each of the patois within our nation, it is true that someone from certain parts of the country would never make it as an auctioneer or radio show host, but, that is part of our ethnology and who we are. But that bloody Ceork accent is so course it does remind me of the brogue Irish dialect.

Along with the tone, the choice and order of words is what I find most annoying. But each nation has their dialectically challenged brethren, England has Liverpool and Newcastle.
NY has the Bronx and Italians have the Calabrese.
It would be boring thought if we all speaked correctly, as we say in Dublin 1.


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## rainyday (4 Feb 2005)

*Re: accents*



> assumption that daltonr is a very arrogant Dub


Ooooh he's gonna love you for that!


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## Leatherarse (4 Feb 2005)

*Re: accents*

For my twocents worth Drogheda and Dundalk are both dire but the Doooooob accent is even worse and habits even worser still.


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## Dr Moriarty (4 Feb 2005)

*Re: accents*

As a transplanted Dub, I'd have to grant you that we/they (?) certainly do have a filthy aul' mouth...

Since I moved from the Pale, I find I have to watch my fuc*ing language all the time. In fact, if you went 'round talking like that in Limerick, why, they'd knife you! :lol


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## purple (4 Feb 2005)

> Is the Drogheda, Dundalk accent Ireland's worst?


 yes. 
The Dublin skanger accent is very bad but that flat drawl just kills me.


> a typical Dub started on about my accent (Cork). been a sore point since then


 That was out of line. After all, everyone knows how insecure Cork people are about, well, being from Cork!


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## Cahir (4 Feb 2005)

*D4*

I hate the fake UCD/D4 accent that all culchies seem to adopt when they move to Dublin.  Bugs the cr*p out of me!


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## Henny Penny (4 Feb 2005)

*Accent*

I took my husband to a family wedding in Cork a few years ago ... had to spend the entire time translating for him ...


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## daltonr (4 Feb 2005)

*Re: Accent*



> assumption that daltonr is a very arrogant Dub bringing up how annoying he finds his fellow countrymen and women, may be wrong,



Yes,  very wrong.  I'm certainly not a Dub.   Arrogant yes from time to time.  *Very* arrogant might be pushing it.

As for my own accent I'm not sure what it is,  it's become muddled from years of moving around.   It's defintiely Irish, but Irish people tend not to know where I'm from.

Incidently I like the Cork accent, Galway Accent,  Some parts of Kerry.    I agree with the people who dislike the Wexford Town accent,  I don't have a huge problem with any of the Dublin accents, although D4 is kinf od annoying.  I don't particularly like the Kilkenny or Waterford accents even though that's where I'm from.  I'm quite happy to have lost that accent (or never had it).

This isn't about snobbery,  I like accents,  I particularly like music where I can hear the accent instead of the pseudo American accent that music tends to morph into.

Similarly I hate the radio DJ accent, sounding like he/she is floating in a boat half way between the US and Ireland.

Sorry if I caused offense.  I did warn you.

-Rd


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## joe sod (4 Feb 2005)

*Re: D4*

yea i have to agree with that I also think the D4 accent is the worst for the simple reason that it is not a natural accent but put on usually by female culchies.


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## daltonr (5 Feb 2005)

*Re: D4*



> put on usually by female culchies.



I don't know if that's true.  I presume you're referring to the AA Roadwatch accent, which I have no problem at all with.

By D4 I was thinking more of the kind of stuff you hear on the Dort Roysh.   When you're loike you knoew heading in to town for the day.  That's pretty annoying.

-Rd


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## Rabbit (5 Feb 2005)

*Re: D4*

The inner city / northside Dublin "accent" is de worst.  Even de teeshoch cant spek poperly.


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## fatherdougalmaguire (5 Feb 2005)

*Re: D4*

Story boss. Deadly.

Talk proper, "de teeshoch cant spek properly". Y'bleeedinposho.

"D'bleeding teeshock cant talk proper".

Show us yer delf.


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## geegee (5 Feb 2005)

One cannot regionalise the worst accent - there are shining examples of it from all regions in the majority of people. Indistinct and grammatically incorrect speech are both extremely common. The majority of people do not seem to be interested in speaking properly, as long as they are understood by their audience is all that seems to matter. In fact, it is "uncool" in many circles to speak properly - inverted snobbery at its best. 

Two examples of "accent evolution" are Des Lynam the sports commentator and Brian O'Connell from RTE news - both fluent speakers of plain English. These are two Irishmen but they got up, got out and got away which is a pre-requisite for most Irish people to cultivate their accent. Speaking of hick accents, why do members of the Gardai interviewed on RTE seem to look and sound like total bog hoppers? They are a parody of a PC Plod type of policeman / woman and do nothing to dispel the stereotype of the paddy.


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## Leatherarse (5 Feb 2005)

Hi longface or GG, about six years ago I was talking to a very eminent Linguist from Trinity and he told me that the only part of Ireland that has no accent is the actual village areas of Laytown & Bettystown. Talking to locals there he was right.


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## Rabbit (5 Feb 2005)

If they talked to a foreigner they would be classified as having an Irish accent, so even Laytown + Bettytown have an accent.


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## geegee (6 Feb 2005)

Leatherarse,

Who's longface?

GG


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## Leatherarse (6 Feb 2005)

Geegee= Horse = Longface.  
Rabbit, within the 32 counties and not to a foreigner. It's still the purest form of spoken English available within a small community, untainted by any accent , but that is about to change with the influx of Dubs and other hard accent people like Cork & Northerners.


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## RevJamesFlynn (8 Feb 2005)

*Dundalk Accent*

A relation is from Dundalk - or, the "toon", as he says - I honestly haven't understood a word he's said for years.  No kidding.  I enjoy accents, and no doubt the Dundalk one is no worse or better than anywhere else, but Klingon makes more sense to me.

James


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## Leatherarse (8 Feb 2005)

*Re: Dundalk Accent*

Where's Cúchullain or Setanta when their toon ( craptown )needs them most.


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## Tonka (8 Feb 2005)

*Bad Accents*

1. South Dublin Female sounds like a south african accent

the word vowel becomes "vile" . There was an infestation of these affected morons on AA Roadwatch for a while which introduced the "Rindabite" to us all. Send them back to South Africa I say. 

2. Limerick skanger accent. Yuk . 

3. Dundalk town accent , awful . Skanger meets border accent meets Midlands.  

4. Athlone town accent. Ultra Midlands 

5. Dublin skanger accent, the nasal drawl version. "Stu'ohry"  

Thems my lot.


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## gentle123 (9 Feb 2005)

The drogheda accent is a bad accent indeed, but to be honest all accents are awful.  Ever watch the TV3 news when they interview people on the streets ??


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## BlueSpud (14 Feb 2005)

Got to put my weight behind the argument that the accent used by young dubs to sound hard beats all others by a mile.  I really like what would have been called an 'aould Dub accent some years ago, and still spoken by many Dubs.  But when I hear some young dubs nowadays contorting their faces to snarl out the words in the heaviest accent, with the most expletives (I am well able to curse myself) they can muster, it depresses me.  Much of this comes with a uniform too, no need to describe it.


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## Henny Penny (14 Feb 2005)

... or even worst irish accent ... Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise ...


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## geegee (15 Feb 2005)

*Irelands worst accent*

bluespud,

What you're describing sounds like a Chav! It was only a matter of time before they were imported from across the water. 

For more info. read Chav! A user's guide to Britains new ruling class by Mia Wallace and Clint Spanner.

It's makes compulsive reading!


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## BlueSpud (15 Feb 2005)

*Re: Irelands worst accent*

Looked up Chav on the net, yup, sounds just about right.


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## Sumatra (16 Feb 2005)

*Re: Irelands worst accent*

Remember 'BOSCO' on RTE!! 

That gets my vote for worst accent and although not proven I'd say it was probably a contributing factor to a lot of those subsequent army deafness claims.


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