Irish slang.

[MColton84]

I finished writing a story in which one of the characters is from Belfast in Northern Ireland. I was wondering if there is anyone out there who is familiar with the area and slang terminology? My grandfather and aunt were both from the area and I was always fond of the conversations they would carry. I tried my best to replicate it as best I can, but was hoping for a second or third set of eyes to double check the work. If you are interested please feel free to send me a PM.

 

[8letters]

I finished writing a story in which one of the characters is from Belfast in Northern Ireland. I was wondering if there is anyone out there who is familiar with the area and slang terminology? My grandfather and aunt were both from the area and I was always fond of the conversations they would carry. I tried my best to replicate it as best I can, but was hoping for a second or third set of eyes to double check the work. If you are interested please feel free to send me a PM.

When I was writing "My European Summer Vacation" (link in sig), I tried to get help with my MFC's Irish accent. I had no luck after months of trying. I found a couple of websites that had translations for Cork slang into American English and leaned heavily on those. One thing I learned is that there isn't an "Irish accent" - accents are very regional in Ireland. The "Irish accent" you see typically is the Dublin accent (Dublin is by far Ireland's largest city). You are going to want to research the Belfast accent.

Here are a couple of videos that look like they'll be helpful:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_tKSAygnrA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEdKqDZn3Bs

 

[Nellymcboatface]

When I was writing "My European Summer Vacation" (link in sig), I tried to get help with my MFC's Irish accent. I had no luck after months of trying. I found a couple of websites that had translations for Cork slang into American English and leaned heavily on those. One thing I learned is that there isn't an "Irish accent" - accents are very regional in Ireland. The "Irish accent" you see typically is the Dublin accent (Dublin is by far Ireland's largest city). You are going to want to research the Belfast accent.

Here are a couple of videos that look like they'll be helpful:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_tKSAygnrA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEdKqDZn3Bs

Yes, there is no generic `Irish' accent.
Cork (or Cark..) is wildly different to a Belfast accent, which is softer.
Dublin accent being different again.

It may be better to try to focus on the slang itself - "catch yourself on" being one (something along the lines of `listen to yourself' - I think...)
The Crack (or Creack as some spell it) works north and south of the border.

Like Scotland, you may only drive a few miles away from Belfast to encouter a completely different accent.
Nelly

 

[Nellymcboatface]

I finished writing a story in which one of the characters is from Belfast in Northern Ireland. I was wondering if there is anyone out there who is familiar with the area and slang terminology? My grandfather and aunt were both from the area and I was always fond of the conversations they would carry. I tried my best to replicate it as best I can, but was hoping for a second or third set of eyes to double check the work. If you are interested please feel free to send me a PM.

There is a TV program `Derry Girls' that may be on YouTube..
Whilst based in Londonderry, ignore the accent but the slang will be common to Northern Ireland, as will be the jokes... (Proddy v Catholic) and the attitude.

A Derry accent is quite different to Belfast.
Nelly

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I wrote a series last year where the main character is from near Belfast and another one is from Belfast itself. It was meant to just be a quick exercise in capturing a voice but next thing I knew it was a novel.

While I've been to NI several times I'm not from there, but I did live in Kilburn (Irish part of London, at the time you could be barred from various pubs for being English) and spend most of my time in pubs, copying the people around me well enough that I'd be told "You've been on this side of the water a long time, aintya? I can tell you're from Belfast but no' which side you're from..." Telling them 'me ma's Protestant, da's Catholic, I don't want to talk about it' got me a number of free pints...

I second Derry Girls - the accent's different but the dialect is much the same.

Anyway, I could take a look-see and say if anything is glaringly jarring enough that I notice?

 

[Kim34DD]

I'm Irish but from Kildare so my accent would be much different to a Belfast one. Derry Girls is a must watch

 

[KeithD]

I think the key to rendering accents in stories is to keep it to the "hint of" minimum so that your readers will get that there's an accent but not get bogged down in trying to follow it. Also, whatever you introduce into the rendering of a character's speech to show accent needs to be maintained.

 

[SimonDoom]

I think the key to rendering accents in stories is to keep it to the "hint of" minimum so that your readers will get that there's an accent but not get bogged down in trying to follow it. Also, whatever you introduce into the rendering of a character's speech to show accent needs to be maintained.

Agreed. Plus, I think people might be talking about two different things. "Accent" refers to the way people pronounce words, not the words they use. "Dialect" incorporates both word choice and pronunciation. If you want to be a careful writer, then it makes some sense to do the research so your Irish character uses words that Irish people actually use. But it's less important, in my view, to try to capture the accent. I agree with Keith that in terms of trying to render accents in fiction, a very little bit goes a long way.

 

[des911]

Also Irish and agree entirely that every county (almost every townland) has a slightly different accent. A late comedian called Niall Toibin (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niall_Tóibín) used to do a comedy sketch in which he told stories from around the country in the different accents. Brilliant, and will give any writer nightmares if they would like to write a story with an Irish accent.
Beyond accent, there are substantial differences in local vocabulary and phrasing. For example, in Limerick, trainers, runners, sneakers are know as "tackies". But nowhere else. In Kerry, every question is answered with another question. Not quite literally, but very commonly. And so on. Very tricky for an outsider to pick up and credibly write (or speak).

To "get" a particular accent/dialect, I suggest listening to radio/television shows, comedians (who will use the local dialect and accent), politicians, etc. Any local person whose voice is recorded.