How to do an Irish Accent

In this video, we're going to learn how to speak an Irish accent.

Whenever you're learning a new accent, it helps to isolate sounds that are specific to that accent. So as we play with these sounds, I encourage you to pause the video and practice these words out loud. They may feel strange at first, but they become beautiful once you live in them a little.

💚 For the sake of my green-blooded friends, please note that not all Irish accents sound the same. Every region, county, and town seems to have it's own unique quality. The accent that I teach in this video is modelled after the beautiful and talented actress Saoirse Ronan. She grew up about an hour-and-half South of Dublin in Carlow, Ireland. I just love her lilt!

The first major sound within the Irish accent that gives it a wonderful jumping off place, is the Irish I. In an Irish accent, it is less, I and more Oi (as in oil). Start first, just getting the sense of it, and then gradually understate it.

Part 1: Sounds

I
height
sight
plight
right
Ireland

Practice sentence: Fortune smiled upon him in Ireland. It’s not quite the right shade of blue. I’ll be having some of that oil.

Next, we have our R sounds. In an Irish accent, the R’s are certainly pronounced.

Park
start
Garden
Work
Hard
Earth
worth

Practice sentence: You’re such a hard worker. What on earth are you doing? When do you start school?

Our next sound is the shift from Ow to EHW.

Mouth
hour
sour
Flower
down
Round
pound
sound
how

Practice sentence: We don’t have to go to
work for another hour. Lemons are sour. Flowers grow in the garden.

Practice works from OH to OWH

Home
blown
alone
grown
Stone
known
road
load
coat

feel the vowel come all the way to the lips while opening the throat.

Practice sentence: I know I met him on the road a short time ago.


Part 2: Melody and Pitch

The irish accent is known for being very melodic. The phrases tend to have a up and down sort of dreamy lilt to them.

Don’t take it so personal.
And that was the sort of this he wanted to tell me ya’ see.
Would you care to go out?
Sure, and that’ll be the end of it.

Longer practice phrases

Wait till I tell ya’s what I read in the paper. I never heard the like in me life!
Like I says to ya’s. That’s really very true. And sure you’ll be after knowing the truth of it, somewhere along the road anyways.
It’s not a date the way you’re thinking and I’m done telling ya. End of discussion.