Ballaghaderreen - Our Town, Our Future

As part of our feature on Ballagaderreen in this week's Roscommon People, we have created a series of videos highlighting some of the groups, clubs and societies that are having a positive impact on the community.
Here is our first video in the series, Ballaghaderreen - Our Town, Our Future....

[@johnmulvey5121]

Thanks Sean, that is interesting. When I was a school boy visiting Ireland 50 years ago I would land in Elphin from Dublin and it was great to hear the distinctive country accent. Some people even then had much stronger accents than others mind you. Over the years , like you I have noticed that accent become fainter amongst younger people . That is a pity I think.
In England too accents have changed, particularly the old upper class accent . If you listen to the young royals who sound very different to Prince Charles and especially the late Queen Elizabeth. The old 'posh' accent is now only spoken by people over about 70.
In the U S younger people now do a quite croaky voice with little jerky upward inflections and this is all over America so I am told .
But I am sad at the thought of the old west of Ireland and in particular County Roscommon speech disappearing.

[@michaeldevaney5728]

A beautiful town I'm from sligo but I really like ballaghaderen it had a fine cathedral

[@seancoleman5021]

Balladreen should be pronounced, and used to be by everybody, NallaghaDERReen.

[@johnmulvey5121]

I find it interesting that here and elsewhere , young people in Ireland ,Roscommon in particular, have different accents to the older people.

[@seancoleman5021]

​@@johnmulvey5121I think that is the case everywhere but that part of the country more than most. I 5hink they are too anxious to seek the approval of others, to the extent of accepting the pronunciation of strangers for their own town, even when it makes no sense etymologically - how would anyone stress the last syllable in Connaught? Munster perhaps, Skibbereen. I wonder who started it. I think it is accepted that woman particularly imitate what they perceive to be socially superior speech.

[@seancoleman5021]

​@@johnmulvey5121I came here in 87 and a couple of years later ai listened to a radio quiz for schoolgirls from 4 different parts of the country, including Dublin, Cork and Roscommon. The Cork girls had their own accent but all of the others sounded exactly the same.