It's the start of the St. Patrick's Day season, a time when people often treat themselves to watching their favorite Irish movies. From "The Quiet Man" to "The Commitments" and anything starring the first Irishman to win a BAFTA, Cillian Murphy, we're spoiled for choice! However, for those native to Ireland or who have an incredible ear for accents there are a few movies out there with Irish accents that will make you wince. 

A lot of folks turn to the sites IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes to help us narrow down the massive choice of movies and TV shows out there but Preply has used these site's huge number of reviews to decipher what movies truly have he worst Irish accents. 

A study by language experts at Preply has analyzed over 234,000 reviews of the most popular movies on IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes spanning multiple decades and genres. They discovered which films have received the most complaints regarding the fake accents performed, and when it comes to Irish accents, the results are in

The films with the worst fake Irish accents:

"Wild Mountain Thyme"

"Wild Mountain Thyme" is the film with the most complained about Irish accents of all time.  According to Preply’s study, "Wild Mountain Thyme" is the film with the highest percentage of negative reviews across Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb, regarding the fake accents performed. Out of a total of 165 negative reviews, 34.5% were about the fake accents.

Wild Mountain Thyme is a 2020 romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by John Patrick Shanley, based on his play Outside Mullingar. The film stars Emily Blunt, Jamie Dornan, Jon Hamm, Dearbhla Molloy and Christopher Walken.

"Mary Reilly"

The film with the second most complained about Irish accents is ‘Mary Reilly’
‘Mary Reilly’, starring Julia Roberts is the film with the second highest percentage of negative reviews regarding fake Irish accents. The film received 55 negative reviews, across IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes, regarding the fake Irish accents performed. Overall the film received a total of 249 negative reviews.

Mary Reilly is a 1996 American gothic horror film directed by Stephen Frears and starring Julia Roberts and John Malkovich. It was written by Christopher Hampton and adapted from the 1990 novel of the same name by Valerie Martin (itself inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde).

"Far and Away"

"Far and Away" is the film with the third most negative reviews about bad fake Irish accents. Released back in 1992, starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, is ‘Far and Away’, the film with the third highest percentage of negative fake Irish accents of all time according to Preply’s study. The film has 110 negative reviews regarding fake accents, which is 17.5% of the 629 overall negative reviews.

"Snatch"

Brad Pitt is the culprit for this one! "Snatch" is a 2000 crime comedy film written and directed by Guy Ritchie, featuring an ensemble cast. Set in the London criminal underworld, the film contains two intertwined plots: one dealing with the search for a stolen diamond, the other with a small-time boxing promoter (Jason Statham) who finds himself under the thumb of a ruthless gangster (Alan Ford) who is ready and willing to have his subordinates carry out severe and sadistic acts of violence.

"Gangs of New York"

"Gangs of New York" is the film with the fifth most negative reviews regarding fake Irish accents. Despite a star-studded cast including Cameron Diaz and Leonardo Dicaprio, the film "Gangs of New York" failed to impress viewers when it came to the fake Irish accents performed. 9.2% (69) of the 748 negative reviews were regarding fake accents, meaning ‘Gangs of New York’ ranks fifth in Preply’s study.

"P.S. I Love You"

"P.S. I Love You" is a 2007 American romantic film directed by Richard LaGravenese from a screenplay by LaGravenese and Steven Rogers based on the 2004 novel of the same name by Cecelia Ahern. The film stars Hilary Swank, Gerard Butler, Lisa Kudrow, Gina Gershon, James Marsters, Harry Connick Jr. and Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

The film was released in the United States on December 21, 2007, by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was critically panned, with criticism being directed at Swank's casting and the writing. It was a box office success and grossed $156.8 million worldwide against a $30 million budget.