Click on names to find out more about the participants.
Relationship of interviewees: Fellow members
Where: Omagh, County Tyrone
Language of interview: English
Voice clip 1
The group discuss the handy term "wild" or "wile" which people in County Tyrone use in all sorts of situations - perhaps because it's a very useful word for people who are always bemoaning their lot. Declan Forde compares it to the ubiquitous use of "aye" in County Fermanagh, which he describes as a "verbal pause".
Voice clip 2
The group remember some of the more colourful older words - insults such as "gulpin" for "an unmannerly fellow" and "get", which means illegitimate - and lament the fact that they're dying out.
Stephen McKenna, Retired schoolmaster
Stephen explains why the Omagh accent, especially among older people, has echoes of Elizabethan English and the rhymes of Shakespeare.
Declan Forde, Teacher
Declan talks about the influence of Irish on the Tyrone accent, and how it reflects the original local place names before they were anglicised.
Long description of interview: The group are members of the Omagh Community Arts Association and are all either from, or based in County Tyrone. The most vocal is Stephen McKenna, who has a great deal to say on the origins of the language, accent and dialect of this area. The group are really engaged by the discussion of words and terms that are particular to their area.
