21 - The Dublin Accent

During the 60s and the early days of the so-called folk revival in Ireland, I rarely missed attending a Fleadh Cheoil. A county Fleadh, or provincial one and certainly an All-Ireland Fleadh was obligatory. Transport to a Fleadh was via hitch-hiking, a mode of transport now, it seems, relegated to history. And overnight accommodation was the nearest dry haybarn to the town in question. Care had to be taken not to waste any money on non-essentials like B&Bs or public transport. The little we had was to be spent on drink and on drink alone, an essential.

Attending the fleadhs were, in the main, people interested in Irish traditional music and song and more importantly, the musicians and singers themselves. But then, of course, there were the obligatory messers, people interested in nothing except making a lot of noise and drawing attention to themselves. These were, in the main, small groups of male Dubs with exaggerated and contrived Dublin accents and led by a guitar “player” with three chords and a plectrum. They had two songs between them, The Holy Ground (Fine Girl you Are) and The Sea Around Us (The Sea Oh The Sea), two verses only in each case, thankfully.

Speaking of the Dublin accent, it seems to be highly infectious and has now spread far beyond the Pale, even as far as Prosperous and Allenwood, places dear to my heart and where I bear a strong urge to protect. If this goes on as it is going, the whole county will be speaking with a kind of watered-down version of the Dublin Accent. And where will we all be then?

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