The Irish accent is often ranked as one of the sexiest accents out there.
However, there is more than just one Irish accent. While every accent has its charm, the Irish like giving certain regions and accents a bit of grief.
Let’s have a look at the ten accents that are often considered the worst among the Irish. Did yours make the list?
10. Cavan – thick, but fun
The Cavan accent is one of the thickest, and it’s a bit of a mixed bag. Most Irish can recognise it easily, but visitors might find it tricky to understand.
While being so distinct, it’s also tricky to imitate. Trying it is a sure way to crack anyone up. It’s all friendly banter, isn’t it?
9. Monaghan – pretty mixed
Online, you can find people saying they wouldn’t mind a soft Monaghan accent. Doesn’t sound like support, though, does it?
County Monaghan is also very mixed when it comes to accents. That’s probably why it can be found on the lower end of the accent-acceptance list.
8. Drogheda – rough, but interesting
If you look up Drogheda on Wikipedia, it includes a line about it being referred to as “draw-da”. That might already give us an idea about the accent.
It’s a rather sharp accent, and online people have called it dire. Let’s just call it very recognisable, shall we?
7. Laois – mild Midlands accent
Feelings about a Laois accent might not be as strong as about others, but it does get teased in a playful way occasionally.
It’s rather soft, but has a distinct treatment of the letter T. Being a Midlands accent, it’s in the middle of the list.
6. Limerick – could be the worst, maybe
Reddit users and online threads talk about how the Limerick accent was dubbed as the worst – with Dublin being the best.
The users seem to strongly disagree there and don’t want to trust the vote, but there may have been others who are not too fond of the Limerick accent. So a spot in the middle seems fair.
5. Louth – set out to confuse
While we already covered the Drogheda accent, there is still Louth as a whole. This one often gets called harsh and confusing.
Now this is one for the online communities to really go at it. Several people seem to have a serious problem with the Louth accent. Is it the confusing part or something else? It makes you wonder.
4. Inner-city Dublin – a special one
The capital has made the list. However, Dublin has several accents: north, south, in-between, and more. You can usually tell which part of the city someone is from.
The accent that really gets to people, though, is the inner-city one. It makes some of them cringe, but it also seems to unite people in their dislike.
3. Kerry – famous on TV
The Kerry accent is the one that went global in a video with a farmer who talks about how some of his sheep were stolen.
Except that hardly anyone could understand him, with the Kerry accent being one of the most difficult to understand. Subtitles were needed. At least he made the Kerry accent famous all over.
2. Cork – is it love or is it hate
The Cork accent is the one that divides. It also comes with its own slang. People either absolutely love it or just hate it. It’s rather fun to see how the same accent can get so many different opinions.
The online chatter comments range from funny to embarrassing. It all comes down to how strong the accent is, it seems. The stronger it is, the better (or worse) its position on the bad accent list.
1. Fake Irish – the one that brings them all together
The accent that nobody can stand and gets the most mockery online has to be the fake Irish movie accent. Yes, the actors are really trying. However, some of them just don’t really sell it.
This is probably the accent that stops any disagreements – everyone just hates a fake Irish accent. So they all have a common mockery target.
What do you think? Which one is really the worst? Is it really the degree of how well you understand someone or not that defines the list? Or is it just a matter of personal taste?
