Mickey Joe O'Shea is has gone viral for his thick Kerry accent.RTE
Back in 2017, these two Irish farmers went viral purely due to the fact that the public found their Kerry accents amazingly difficult to understand.
The pair from Brandon in West Kerry were interviewed about a serious matter – roughly 60 sheep were likely stolen from their flocks. But even people who were born and raised in Ireland have trouble understanding what they were saying.
Gardaí in Co Kerry are investigating the theft of up to 60 sheep on Mount Brandon pic.twitter.com/85bJRIGrsb
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) April 9, 2017
Mike Joe O’Shea estimates that at least 45 of his ewes were stolen and his neighbor Richie Griffin thinks at least ten of his have been taken too.
“Whoever is doing it knows what he’s doing,” Griffin concluded.
One of them is even offering a €2,000 ($2,120) reward for information that leads to the return of his stolen animals.
Read More: A brogue to beat all – can you understand a word from these Irish farmers?
The report has been viewed over 223,000 times on Facebook and shared by close to 9,000 people all because of the farmers’ accents.
“These lads live no more than 30km from my home in Tralee and I'd need an interpreter to understand them!” one man commented on Facebook.
On Twitter, a number of individuals reported similar feelings.
@rtenews Couldn't understand a word either of them said. Feel sorry for tourists thinking of going on a trip where Kerryish isn't their 1st language…
— Deirdre (@shallow_boat) April 10, 2017
@rtenews What language is that dude speaking?!
— Sean (@rabdaawg) April 9, 2017
@rtenews Here's a challenge for you all – how much can you understand of what the first farmer is saying? #MikeyJoe #Kerryish
— Seana Talbot (@SeanaTalbot) April 10, 2017
@rtenews Any chance of some subtitles please #EvenSiriWasStumped
— Dave Milne (@Dave_r_milne) April 9, 2017
@rtenews @dnlwrght is this English?
— Jeremy Driggs (@jerdriggs) April 10, 2017
@JamieO_Hara @rtenews Much like fine wine or a night at the opera, I can only hope to one day understand it.
(I loved it)
— Sarah (@sarahs_mindtank) April 10, 2017
Others, however, were more concerned by the farmers’ livelihood than their accents.
“It really annoys me the number of people on here laughing and joking about this. Would it be so funny if a burglar broke into one of your homes and stole thousands worth of your valuables???? This is a mans [sic] livelihood and believe me it's hard to make money at sheep farming so this is a massive blow to him to have over 40 sheep stolen!” one Facebook user wrote.
Read More: The foolproof guide to recognizing different Irish accents
“The reason this poor man went on air was to publicize his stock were stolen. And all this gutter journalist can point out his accent. So what, we all can't be perfect like him! Not. I sincerely hope this farmer gets his likehood [sic] back,” another fumed.
“So what if he has a very strong accent? Is it anymore or less legitimate than anyone else's accent? The poor man has just suffered a devastating blow to his livelihood! It's not a laughing matter,” another pointed out.
Read more: Daisy Edgar-Jones explains her perfect Irish accent in Normal People
H/T: RTÉ News
* Originally published in April 2017.