From TV personalities to movie heartthrobs and musicians, the charm of the Irish seems to be the accent to swoon over, but what is it about the way they speak that we find so attractive?
Dialect coach, Rebecca Guansell, says that it’s because accents that are different to our own signal that the person isn’t a local, making them seem interesting and exotic. She says, “There is some evolutionary theory that a new accent means widening the gene pool, although that fact doesn’t seem so sexy! But a foreign accent can make the speaker seem more attractive than if they spoke with the local dialect.”
With this in mind, using a combination of Google, TikTok, and Instagram data, Austen & Blake has scored and indexed the top Irish celebs – and has used this index to discover who really is the “hottest” on the internet.
Top Irish Celebrities By Sector
Top Irish Male Actors
With his razor-sharp cheekbones and piercing blue eyes, it’s no wonder why Cillian Murphy is the top Irish male actor. Born in Cork, his most notable and recent work is his role as Thomas Shelby – the cunning crime boss of fictional 1919 Birmingham’s underbelly – in the hit BBC series, Peaky Blinders.
Northern Irish actor Liam Neeson is the second on our list of top Irish actors. He has starred in plenty of beloved films such as Love Actually, Batman Begins, and Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace, but most recently has become known for his action films such as the Taken series.
Top Irish Female Actors
Although born in the United States, Saoirse Ronan grew up in Dublin and has had a stream of success in recent years, making her the top Irish actress, according to our findings. She had many roles in films before she was launched into the spotlight thanks to her performances in Lady Bird, for which she won a Golden Globe, and 2019’s Little Women.
Second on our list, Katie McGrath grew up in County Wicklow and gained recognition for starring in the BBC series, Merlin. Other notable roles under her belt include Lena Luthor on Supergirl and Zara Young in Jurassic World.
Top Irish Male TV Personalities
Who doesn’t love kicking back with an episode of Graham Norton? The comedian, actor, author and television host was born and raised in County Dublin and is a five-time BAFTA TV Award winner for his comedy chat show The Graham Norton Show. He’s known for his flamboyance and innuendo-laden dialogue and is a well-loved TV personality so it’s no wonder he came out on top here.
Former journalist and current TV presenter, Eamonn Holmes, is second on our top TV personalities list. He is known for his work on multiple different daytime television programs, including GMTV, Sky News Sunrise, and This Morning.
Top Irish Female TV Personalities
Maura Higgins, born and raised in County Longford, was a runner-up in the 5th series of Love Island. Since then, she has appeared on a number of different television shows, including This Morning, as a presenter or co-host and has also collaborated with numerous fashion and makeup brands since her Love Island fame.
Born in Dublin, Laura Whitmore is a well-loved Irish media personality and second on our list. She started out as an MTV Video Jockey and has since presented multiple different shows, including This Morning and Love Island.
Top Irish Male Musicians
Our most popular male Irish musician probably won’t take anyone by surprise. Niall Horan is a singer-songwriter who rose to fame as a member of One Direction but has since made his own mark with two top 20 solo albums.
Hozier, our second top Irish male musician, is a talented singer and songwriter who rose to fame thanks to his song Take Me To Church going multi-platinum in multiple countries. He was born in Bray, County Wicklow and has been writing music since he was 15.
Top Irish Female Musicians
Dublin-born Sinéad O’Connor is our top female musician. She started her career in 1984 and has gone on to release 10 studio albums and won over 10 music awards. Although she retired from the music industry after her 2022 tour, she remains a beloved musician to many.
Singer, songwriter, and musician Enya comes second on our top 10 list. Born in Gweedore, Enya rose to fame due to her unusual sound and mixing of genres to create a unique music style that the world hadn’t heard before. It has been rumoured that she will be working on new music in the near future, so keep your ears peeled!
Hottest Irish Celebrities
Niall Horan, the singer-songwriter, is crowned the hottest Irish celeb on the internet, achieving the top spot on the overall rankings. However, Irish film stars seem to have taken the internet by storm, with a total of 10 actors listed in the top 20, followed by 6 musicians and 4 TV personalities. It’s interesting to note that most of the top 20 are men, perhaps indicating that the accent is preferred by women rather than men when it comes to love interests.
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