Ireland 20

Listen to Ireland 20, a 52-year-old man from Clontarf, Dublin, Ireland, who has spent about half his life in New York City, New York, United States. Click or tap the triangle-shaped play button to hear the subject.

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

AGE: 52

DATE OF BIRTH (DD/MM/YYYY): 31/10/1970

PLACE OF BIRTH: Dublin, Ireland

GENDER: male

ETHNICITY: Irish/White

OCCUPATION: bartender

EDUCATION: bachelor’s degree

AREAS OF RESIDENCE OUTSIDE REPRESENTATIVE REGION FOR LONGER THAN SIX MONTHS:

The speaker lived in London for three and a half years, and later in New York City for 24 years. As of the date of this recording, he has been living in Los Angeles, California, for three years.

OTHER INFLUENCES ON SPEECH:

The speaker himself noted that when he returns to Ireland, children say he sounds American; this is likely due to the many years he has spent in the United States.

The text used in our recordings of scripted speech can be found by clicking here.

RECORDED BY: Amaia Villegas

DATE OF RECORDING (DD/MM/YYYY): 21/06/2023

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF SCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

ORTHOGRAPHIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH:

I grew up in Dublin in the seventies. I was born at Rotunda Hospital, and my family had shops throughout Dublin. So I lived initially above a store, ah, in a bad part of Dublin. Um, I’m the youngest of four kids. At the age of four, my family moved to a house in Clontarf. Clontarf is a nice part — is a nice part of Dublin on the wrong side of the tracks. Dublin’s a north-side and a south-side town, and the north side is the bad. But in my front garden was Saint Anne’s Park, and Saint Anne’s Park is the second-largest park in Europe [sic; actually second-largest in Dublin]. It’s over two hundred acres, I think. And that was my front garden. And full of everything you could imagine: award-winning rose gardens, forests that you could get lost in, lakes that you could fall on your bike into; and it was a wonderful place. I still go back there when I go back. It’s, uh, quite charming to see, and little has changed, and it’s still wonderful. Um, I love Dublin very much. I just can’t see myself living there ever again. But it’s a great town.

Um, as for the rest of my time: I’ve spent too much time in New York City, which I love very dearly — another place I love but I can’t live anymore. And now I find myself living in Los Angeles. And I don’t know whether I’m going to be here for a short time, whether I’m going to be here for a long time. But I’m here right now, so that’s OK. Now, further to that, um, I’m, uh, gainfully employed as a bartender in this city at a wonderful place where I have — I work with wonderful staff who are very, very kind and nice to work with. And that makes it all so much easier, you see, because, uh, Lord knows you don’t want to work at a place where you can’t stand the other people. Um, but, uh, you know, I guess, uh, it’s good to have employment, and it’s good to, uh, keep yourself busy, etcetera, etcetera. But I’m just not sure if I’m gonna be here forever. So, there you have it. That’s my brief story for you. OK, thanks very much. It was wonderful talking with you, and I hope I’ve given you everything that you need.

TRANSCRIBED BY: Amaia Villegas

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 22/06/2023

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

SCHOLARLY COMMENTARY: N/A

COMMENTARY BY: N/A

DATE OF COMMENTARY (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

The archive provides:

• Recordings of accent/dialect speakers from the region you select.

• Text of the speakers’ biographical details.

• Scholarly commentary and analysis in some cases.

• In most cases, an orthographic transcription of the speakers’ unscripted speech.  In a small number of cases, you will also find a narrow phonetic transcription of the sample (see Phonetic Transcriptions for a complete list).  The recordings average four minutes in length and feature both the reading of one of two standard passages, and some unscripted speech. The two passages are Comma Gets a Cure (currently our standard passage) and The Rainbow Passage (used in our earliest recordings).

For instructional materials or coaching in the accents and dialects represented here, please go to Other Dialect Services.