The Irish accent, judging from some of Hollywood's attempts at it over the years, must surely be one of the most difficult for actors to master.
We've plowed through the archives and nominated our top 10 worst offenders. What do you think?
Read down through our list or use the playlist on the right to listen to the top 10 Worst Hollywood Irish accents!
1. SEAN CONNERY IN DARBY O'GILL AND THE LITTLE PEOPLE"
The gold standard to judge against all other bad Irish accents must surely remain Sean Connery's portrayal of Michael McBride, in the Walt Disney classic "Darby O' Gill and the Little People."
2. SEAN CONNERY IN "THE UNTOUCHABLES"
That was in 1959; by 1987, when he starred as the tough Irish cop Jim Malone in "The Untouchables," things had scarcely improved (though ironically, he nabbed the Best Supporting Actor Oscar).
It's not just the Irish accent that the Bond star has grappled with it - no doubt he also made the cut for some Top 10 List of Bad Russian Accents for his portrayal of Captain Marko Ramius, in "The Hunt for Red October."
3. KEVIN SPACEY IN "ORDINARY DECENT CRIMINAL"
Every so often, U.S. actors - even really good, respected actors like Kevin Spacey - come out with stuff like "Ordinary Decent Criminal," a fairly unremarkable movie save for the fact that the main stars all try to outdo one another on the bad Irish accent front.
It's a kind of bizarre concoction of various Irish regional accents - a little bit of Dublin, a touch of Northern Ireland - that slips into American every fifth sentence or so.
It's astonishing that Colin Farrell, a native Dubliner, didn't think of saying to Spacey, "What the f**k, Kevin?! No one in Ireland, and I mean no one, talks like that! Now go get a voice coach and give the Oirish accent a rest!"
This mustn't have happened - and indeed, the director, Thaddeus O'Sullivan, himself an Irishman, somehow failed to spot that Spacey's co-star, Linda Fiorentino, had an equally ridiculous accent. Shame on both O'Sullivan and Farrell for not spotting these...
It remains a mystery why this film actually got made, when John Boorman's "The General" - a movie about the same thing - came out before it, and is vastly superior.
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4. TOMMY LEE JONES IN "BLOWN AWAY"
One of the other stock Irish characters in Hollywood movies is the Irish terrorist. (For example, Sean Bean in "Patriot Games," Brad Pitt in "The Devils Own," Richard Gere in "The Jackal," etc.)
Perhaps the worst bad Irish accent offender from the Irish terrorist category is Tommy Lee Jones' portrayal of Ryan Gaerity in "Blown Away," above and beyond the worst Northern Irish accent you are every likely to hear. Real-life Northern Irish terrorists must have been disgusted that their movement could be insulted with such a woeful accent.
5. JULIA ROBERTS IN "MICHAEL COLLINS"
Like Sean Connery, Julia Roberts is a repeat bad Irish accent offended: in 1996, she played Kitty Kiernan, the lover of Michael Collins in the movie of the same name.
(Although English actor Alan Rickman, playing Eamon de Valera in that movie does a pretty good job in his Irish accent - shame he didn't pass on any tips to Roberts.)
6. JULIA ROBERTS IN "MARY REILLY"
Things went from bad to worse for Roberts in "Mary Reilly," which was also released in 1996.
In it, she plays the title role, an Irish housemaid who becomes embroiled in a love affair with her employer Dr. Jekyll, and his alter ego, Mr. Hyde.
Apparently, Roberts had a voice coach for the part - and Roberts spokeswoman told a tabloid, "Julia wants her voice to be authentic."
Do yourself a favor, Julia - the next time you play an Irish character in a movie, get yourself a new voice coach.
7. TOM CRUISE IN "FAR AND AWAY"
To be perfectly fair to the much pilloried Tom Cruise, his Irish accent in "Far and Away" is truly appalling.
Joseph Donnelly, the 19th century Irish peasant played by Cruise, sounds like how a Hollywood film executive imagines Irish people talk.
If Cruise's Irish accent has any redeeming features it's that it might fall into the "It's so bad, it's funny" category of Irish on screen accents.
It also diverts attention from Nicole Kidman's efforts at an Irish accent in the same movie. (In one scene, Cruise tells Kidman, "Yer a corker, Shannon. What a corker you are!" - a well known Irish pick-up line.) While being fairly feeble, it's not the crime against Irish humanity perpetrated by her ex-husband, to be sure, to be sure.
8. BRAD PITT IN "THE DEVIL'S OWN"
While not sinking to the same depths as Richard Gere in "The Jackal," Brad Pitt still manages to embarrass himself - and indeed anyone from Northern Ireland - with his efforts at playing Frankie Gallagher, an IRA man on-the-run.
Apparently, Pitt spent a few days hanging around Belfast to perfect a Belfast accent. (He was even attacked in West Belfast while he was researching the role.)
Probably could have done with a few more days in Belfast....
9. GERARD BUTLER IN "P.S. I LOVE YOU"
Everyone involved in the making of this film, from the producer to the coffee maker, should be rounded up and shot - it's that bad.
First on the list to go is Gerard Butler, who plays lovable Irishman Gerry Kennedy, and whose Irish accent is only one of the many problems in this pretty awful film.
Sean Connery has shown that even Scottish actors can have trouble with an Irish accent - a point also demonstrated by Butler in this movie.
P.S. Gerry, your accent sucks.
10. THE LEPRECHAUN IN "LEPRECHAUN"
Like many of the films featured on this list, this movie falls into the "It's so bad, it's good" category. And it's hard not to laugh at a movie with the tagline, "Your luck just ran out."
This horror gained something of a cult following, and was also notable for giving Jennifer Aniston one of her first roles.
Of course, in a movie about Leprechauns, anything less than a ridiculous "Oirish" accent would be a total shock - and Leprechaun doesn't disappoint.
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READ MORE:
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.Seanmor | May 09, 2012, 10:05 PM EDT
During the 2 years I spent at Camp Lejune in the early 60s, Northern marines sometimes belittled and rediculed their fellow countrymen of the South because of their accents. One day a Staff Sgt. from the Mid-West greatly embarrassed a Southern PFC by taking the accent thing too far. Then a 1st Lt. came to the rescue of the aboused PFC and let the SSgt. know who was boss. I often wondred what happened to the PFC and now I know. In Aug of 66 he was K.I.A. as a Sgt.in Vietnam - and his accent no longer mattered.
IrishDragoon | Feb 24, 2012, 10:52 AM EST
You guys only found TEN???!!!!!!! Slackers!!!!!!!!!!!!!
audreybolton | Feb 01, 2012, 07:59 PM EST
Who can forget Tom Cruise's terrible Oirish accent in Ron Howard's Far and Away? I wish most of us native Irish could. The roars of laughter in cinemas across Ireland had to be heard to be believed. Remember his "You're a carker Shannon you're a carker" I think he meant "you're a corker". My godmother was one of the voice coaches on the film and tried to teach him a West of Ireland accent - all in vain. The hammy script did't help. It was voted the worst attempt at an Irish accent ever. His then wife Nicole Kidman did a slightly better job.
wildbanshee | Nov 26, 2011, 07:36 PM EST
Have to give props to Johnny Depp for his Dublin accent in "Chocolate" - I hadn't seen him before and wondered who the new actor from Dublin was. The rest of them are dire indeed!
SeamusRua | Nov 21, 2011, 10:59 PM EST
Oh dear Lord.
Towngate | Nov 14, 2011, 12:56 PM EST
Although this is about Irish accents in Hollywood Movies, we should remember that all accents in movies are a compromise to facilitate world-wide understanding. Just take 'Westerns' for example: The white characters always speak in a modern mid-western American accent, with few exceptions. To portray the historical speech accurately, you would have to incorporate every version of broken, tortured English as must have been spoken by the European-wide influx of early settlers. Only 'Indians' and 'Mexicans' seemed to be marked out for separate accents. The great skill of American screen actors has now begun to break down these walls and we are usually treated to location-specific accents nowadays - especially in TV productions. >>> But the actors who deliver every role in their own voice and accent, as John Wayne did and Liam Neeson tends to,should they wish to improve,the astonishingly accomplished and vocally versatile Meryl Streep shows them what a high mountain that is, should they ever care to climb it!
aoibhinn | Nov 14, 2011, 03:43 AM EST
re no. 9 Gerard Butler in P.S. I Love You - what accent? Except for a few words (and 'bloody' is more of an English thing) he didn't even sound Irish. The other guy, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, did a much better job.
bogsidebunny | Nov 13, 2011, 01:35 PM EST
My vote for the most evil Irish accent goes to Bertie Ahern when he tries to convience the Irish public he had nothing to do with the bankers and developers raping the Irish economy.
irishbob | Nov 13, 2011, 12:27 PM EST
One wonders why movie people have not discovered that you really should use an Irish actor to play an Irish part. I would just as soon enjoy the sound of fingernails being raked across a blackboard than listening to Sean Connery's Irish accent.
forflann | Nov 13, 2011, 12:20 PM EST
You really think as a youngster just starting out in film, Colin Farrell would tell the man who picked him for the part [after seeing him in the stage play A Little World of Our Own] his accent wasn't believable?
Stiofain | Nov 13, 2011, 11:51 AM EST
It seems to me Connery's accent is ALWAYS the same...Scots!
ellenmpuff | Nov 13, 2011, 11:38 AM EST
Funny and true.
Saoirse9 | Nov 13, 2011, 10:46 AM EST
I thought that Meryl Streep's attempt at a Donegal accent in Dancing at Lughnasa was bloody awful. Her character was a teacher; did she not study some Gaeilge before attempting this role?
nevermind | Nov 13, 2011, 10:20 AM EST
Donald Sutherland in "The Eagle Has Landed". Not the film's only problem...
colkelley | Nov 13, 2011, 10:13 AM EST
This was an interesting article the first five or six times it appeared in Irish Central. Can we move on now with a different filler article?
faberm1 | Nov 13, 2011, 10:00 AM EST
I think this is an unfair article. Someone posted below that Irish, Scots, and English do a great job with American accents, so why can't Yanks reciprocate. Well.....the truth is, Irish, Scots, and English DON'T ever do American accents well. We American just do what theatre goers have done for millenia....we suspend our disbelief. We like seeing American actors in these roles and we don't care if they sound exactly like they're from Ireland. The American audience is 300,000,000. The Irish audience is 3,000,000. That says it all!
ciaradexy | Nov 10, 2011, 07:03 PM EST
No non irish person can do a decent irish accent. Thats just a fact!
kateomprint | May 06, 2011, 05:07 PM EDT
Brad Pitt had to be the absolute worst i've ever heard. Most of the actors in hollywood think we all go around saying "faith and begorra" and "top of the morning to ya sir"
icanseetrees | Apr 27, 2011, 07:53 PM EDT
Towngate - Liam Neeson is actually Irish, born and bred. So that is just HIS accents lol! As for Sean Connery - it isn't that his accents are bad, it's just that he only ever uses his own Scottish accent!
Towngate | Oct 21, 2010, 03:40 PM EDT
The very worst Irish accent ever, in all his films, is done by Liam Neeson.
SeamusMor | Oct 17, 2010, 11:07 AM EDT
"Yonda is duh castle of my fadda." --Tony Curtis "Hey Moses! Why should we folla yew?" Edward G. Robinson
dolleanpatrice | Sep 04, 2010, 04:27 PM EDT
how could you leave out whoopie goldberg as the grand banchee ?????
Kevin325 | Jul 27, 2010, 04:22 PM EDT
Tommy Lee Jones accent in the movie "Blown Away" was horrendous!!!!! I liked the movie itself, but I cringe every time he spoke. Jeff Bridges accent was horrible too.
Liamkeyes | Jun 23, 2010, 05:58 PM EDT
A Good method actor or actress would spend time with the natives in order to get the accent right. Well, at least anyone dedicated to their art.
GuinnessGrrl | Jun 13, 2010, 01:16 AM EDT
How could this list not include Clark Gable in "Parnell"?
liliying | Jun 11, 2010, 08:31 PM EDT
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citizen69 | Jun 09, 2010, 12:32 PM EDT
Brad Pitt's was the worst!
Temerity | Jun 03, 2010, 02:19 AM EDT
The majority of film goers are not Irish themselves and they wouldn't even give a tinkers dam as it all sounds charming to them so you Irish puritans are all by yourselves because no body cares.The pure charm of a Sean Connery and or a Julie Roberts e.g. who even bothers to try is a compliment to you all.Until you produce an Irish Actor or Actress with the same box office clout do us a favour ,grow up.
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oniallgirl | May 16, 2010, 12:54 PM EDT
The Bad Brogue award has to go to Norman Reedus, in the Boondock Saints. Much as I loved the boys, his accent was horrendous. Truly embarrassing. Thanks for comin' out.
Temerity | Mar 15, 2010, 08:04 PM EDT
Well I don't know about the accent but thanks I liked that little early tit bit of Sean Connery and I only got as far as the untouchables and can remember the scene where they kill off Sean Connery,never bin more shocked and devestated and in me life! What a really great segment those film clips are wish I had time to go through them all.
chaosrainz | Mar 15, 2010, 04:43 PM EDT
The leprechaun in the Lucky Charms commercials! lol Magically delicious....yup.
merryman39 | Mar 15, 2010, 12:44 PM EDT
A tougher question---which non Irish or Irish hyphenated actor pulled off the best Irish accent of an Irish character in a movie--filum??
JamesMurphy | Mar 15, 2010, 12:21 PM EDT
Ah, but surely the worst attempt at an Irish accent is that to be heard in the "Irish Spring" advertisements. This is truly pathetic. Even more of a Tom Cruise "corker" is the incredibly embarrassing Cockney accent of Dick Van Dyke in the movie "Mary Poppins." This one truly takes the biscuit. Why he was chosen for the part is a mystery. Ok, he is a pretty good dancer, but there were plenty of equally proficient English hoofers who could have done a far superior job. As someone who lived "within the sound of Bow Bells," I cringe every time I hear Mr. Van Dyke open his mouth in the movie. Cor blimey, luv a duck, 'e needs to keep his norf an souf closed, otherwise 'e'll continue to make the rest of us mum and dad.
grimchieftain | Mar 15, 2010, 06:55 AM EDT
I don't understand how English/Irish/Scottish actors can pull off an American accent with such ease but most American actors can't do accents from England/Ireland/Scotland to save their souls. Kevin Costner in 'Robin Hood' was beyond embarrassing trying to speak with an English accent and pretty much just stopped halfway through the film. And I'd think an English accent would be the easiest of the three to try and imitate. Oh yeah, include Australian in their too. They seem to do 'American' fairly well too.
Aliciarose | Mar 14, 2010, 11:15 PM EDT
I didn't mind Julia Roberts inMichael Collins. She wasn't too bad. It was passable. But I have had heard some woeful ones. It is a bit like trying an Australian accent if you are not an Aussie. The worst I ever heard trying an Australian accent was Meryl Streep in The Lindy Chamberlain movies. I nearly spewed.
peterquinn | Mar 14, 2010, 03:38 PM EDT
Sorry, but the worst Irish accent in the history of Hollywood--and that's saying something!--belongs to Ann Bancroft as Anne Sullivan, Helen Keller's teacher, in the 1962 film "The Miracle Worker." Bancroft had already won a Tony for the same role on Broadway. Her Oscar-winning preformance is brilliant--so brilliant it's almost possible to miss her truly atrocious Irish accent, which comes and goes throughout the film. (Anne Sullivan was born in Massachusetts, the daughter of famine immigrants, so giving her an Irish accent was a case of gilding the lily--or shamrock. Bancroft needn't have bothered.) Sullivan's story and her deep Irish roots are explored in Kim Nielsen's recent book, "Beyond the Miracle Worker:The Remarkable Life of Anne Sullivan Macy and Her Extraordinary Friendship with Helen Keller." It's a book well worth reading, especialy for the light it sheds on the fate of many Irish immigrants who arrived in America as a result of the famine. The scars they and their children suffered were deep and lasting, as Nielsen makes clear.
Tschetter | Mar 14, 2010, 03:08 PM EDT
John Wayne, played an American returning to his Irish roots .The movie, Quite Man . It was Maureen OHara who was supposed to be Irish born with the lousy accent
merryman39 | Mar 14, 2010, 01:19 PM EDT
In addition to Gerry Butler's Irish accent being the worst I've ever heard, he can't even act like an Irishman. If the movie hadn't been filmed in an Irish pub, you would never have known. Even the green hills of Wicklow didn't help him. At least Sean Connery acted Irish in "The Molly Maguires".
carrickcourt | Mar 14, 2010, 10:55 AM EDT
John Wayne does a very bad accent in what is that movie now, the "Silent Man"?
NyackGal | Mar 14, 2010, 09:25 AM EDT
Almost better not to attempt an Irish accent,huh?