BROGUE. An informal, non-technical term for an Irish and sometimes a Scottish or West Country ACCENT. In the 18c, the expression to have the brogue on one's tongue was common for an Irish accent and the word has been used at least since the 17c: ‘[They] had both their Education at the English Court, which something refin'd their Gibberish, yet not so much, but that there is still a Brogue’ ( James Farewell, The Irish Hudibras, London, 1689). The term is used humorously and facetiously in Ireland.

brogue¹ / brōg/ • n. a strong outdoor shoe with ornamental perforated patterns in the leather.brogue² • n. [usu. in sing.] a marked accent, esp. Irish or Scottish, when speaking English: a fine Irish brogue.

brogue1 rough shoe of Ireland and the Scottish Highlands XVI; pl. †hose, trousers XVII; strong outdoor shoe XIX. — Ir., Gael. brōg (OIr. bróc) — ON. brók (see BREECH).

brogue a marked accent, especially Irish or Scottish, when speaking English. Recorded from the early 18th century, the term may come allusively from brogue ‘a rough shoe of untanned leather, formerly worn in parts of Ireland and the Scottish Highlands’, referring to the rough footwear of Irish peasants.

brogue2 strongly marked provincial (esp. Irish) accent. XVII. perh. the same word as prec. used in playful allusion to the foot-gear of Ir. or Sc. speakers.