The Breaking Up of the UK.

Lol, y’all are inadvertently teaching me loads about the UK in this thread. I’ve dumped so many terms y’all have mentioned into a search engine just to get a handle on what’s being talked about here lmao

Yep. 

It's complicated. 

On top of the United Kingdom we have Great Britain and the British Isles.

All differ from one another. 

B said:

All differ from one another. 

and then there is Ireland and Northern Ireland which is one island with a deep and fractured history. 

I’ve noticed that. Some Antrim accents are a bit more Scottish sounding than others, while some are more like Donegal accents. For such a tiny place, N.I. has an amazing variety of regional accents, maybe because people didn’t, and some still don’t, travel much beyond the boundaries of their home town or village. 

My friend from Belfast (well, from various parts of the world/Antrim, but mainly Belfast) is frequerntly asked if she comes from Donegal. She assumes the part of rural Antrim she lived in as a child sounds similar. 

Most people here don’t either when they talk about Donegal. 

I should have been explicit. People here use the term ‘down south’ more when talking about the country Ireland, not NI, say if referring to the price of petrol in Ireland, or the number of motor accidents etc. Donegal is just Donegal, as if it’s part of N. Ireland, even though it isn’t. (It’s part of Ulster, so maybe that’s why many people here love it and people there speak with an NI accent).

Most people here don’t either when they talk about Donegal. 

I should have been explicit. People here use the term ‘down south’ more when talking about the country Ireland, not NI, say if referring to the price of petrol in Ireland, or the number of motor accidents etc. Donegal is just Donegal, as if it’s part of N. Ireland, even though it isn’t. (It’s part of Ulster, so maybe that’s why many people here love it and people there speak with an NI accent).

I’ve noticed that. Some Antrim accents are a bit more Scottish sounding than others, while some are more like Donegal accents. For such a tiny place, N.I. has an amazing variety of regional accents, maybe because people didn’t, and some still don’t, travel much beyond the boundaries of their home town or village. 

My friend from Belfast (well, from various parts of the world/Antrim, but mainly Belfast) is frequerntly asked if she comes from Donegal. She assumes the part of rural Antrim she lived in as a child sounds similar.