This article examines the representation of Irish English in contemporary Irish writing, with particular reference to the narrative of the Ross O'Carroll-Kelly saga, a series of comic novels created by Irish writer Paul Howard which has enjoyed phenomenal success in Ireland, due in part to the author's ability to convey contemporary spoken English in Dublin. Our study consists of a corpus analysis of three of his novels, where we are able to describe a number of key stylistic features which are distinctive of Howard's representation of Irish English, including the variable use of such discourse markers as like, roysh and yeah + no, as well as the use of the intensifying so.

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