US cancer patient developed ‘uncontrollable’ Irish accent, doctors say

Man in his 50s with prostate cancer maintained accent until his death despite having never been to Ireland

A cancer patient in the US developed what researchers say was an “uncontrollable Irish accent” during treatment, despite never having been to Ireland nor having immediate relatives from the country.

While still rare, cases of foreign accent syndrome (FAS) are more common in patients following strokes or head trauma, or who have psychiatric disorders, according to the experts from North Carolina’s Duke University and the Carolina Urologic Research Center of South Carolina.