Culture

Was SNL’s broad, bizarre take on Ireland ‘worse than the famine’?

Saoirse Ronan’s accent took some flak on Irish social media – and then the real trouble started

Saoirse Ronan: her accent probably sounds a bit mixed up because she moved around a lot as a child

Seamus O'Reilly
Sat Dec 9 2017 - 05:00

In our little corner of Irish internet, it's a strange thrill to see one of our own light up the global timeline, especially for nonsporting reasons. This week it happened in fairly spectacular style when Saoirse Ronan hosted Saturday Night Live, becoming the first Irish woman – and Carlow person in general – ever to have done so.

This news gave rise to the first wave of social media attention she received this weekend, in the form of resurgent accent-truthers; that cohort of people who find her cockles-and-mussels lilt too Dublin by half; an issue that’s prompted some strong reactions from tweeters lamenting her “fake”, “stage Irish”, even “disgusting” voice.

It fell to Amy O’Connor of the Daily Edge to stand up for Ronan, making the rudimentary point that her accent probably sounds a bit mixed up because she moved around a lot as a child. As fairly conclusive proof of her accent’s longstanding presence, she then produced an exquisitely charming clip of the actor aged just 12, discussing Michelle Pfeiffer with a voice best described as being that of a very kind mouse from Moore Street.

If accent-gate was a storm in a teacup, then a hurricane was still to come, although it was less gale force, and more Gael farce. The show started positively, gaining plaudits for a topical parody song in which Saoirse and SNL cast members Leslie Jones, Kate McKinnon and Cecily Strong performed a bubblegum girl-group anthem Welcome to Hell.

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The song repurposed the Day-Glo production values of glittery pop videos to comment on the rash of recent sexual assault accusations within the entertainment industry, and broader issues of sexism in society. The stinging lyrics and pitch-perfect production values packed a welcome punch that was, perhaps, lacking in the other notable sketch of the night.

This bizarre sketch – titled “Aer Lingus” – had Ronan playing a flight attendant for the airline, surrounded by a hodge-podge of Irish caricatures that repeated every hoary old stereotype about Irish people, while also grasping for new, undiscovered frontiers of paddywhackery. Like a Christmas visit from your country cousins, Aran jumpers, potato-eating and wildly meandering accents all made appearances that were depressing, if not unexpected. Their additional desire to cast the owning of dogs as a profoundly Celtic obsession wasn’t so much offensive as utterly inscrutable. It landed with the sort of wet thud usually reserved for your nightly ritual of throwing an Aran jumper stuffed with mash to your wolfhound.

Befuddled and horrified Irish reaction dominated Twitter, with judgments ranging from “dire” and “racist” to @BarryPierce’s memorable “worse than the famine”.

It was Aer Lingus, however, who scored the finest zing of the evening by responding in Trumpian fashion to the slight upon their fine airline. "Just tried watching Saturday Night Live" they said, channelling their inner Potus. "Unwatchable! Totally biased, not funny and the Ronan impersonation just can't get any worse. Sad."

Let’s hope she’s flying back via sail and rail.