Great post from the Oxford folks about Irish English! I own I have a lot to be learning about all this.
Wasn’t I after singing “Come on Eileen…”
While Gaelic vocabulary still peppers Irish English speech – “Arrah what ráiméis is she on about, the leibide! Where’s the mairleógs? Sure th’amadán’s off talking seafóid again, so he is!*” – it’s Gaelic syntax that has played a significant but more subtle role in influencing Irish English speech patterns, which often sound quirky to British ears. “I’ve a job got,” announced a family friend proudly one day, along with “They’d the house redecorated,” and “Had he a drink taken?” (not all in the same conversation)
