> although it is worth noting, despite the distance, the Newfoundland accent is absolutely indistinguishable from a genuine Irish accent

That makes sense, because Newfoundland was settled by the Irish[1]. I guess the Irish accent in Ireland hasn't changed much since then, and the settlers accent didn't change either.

It's said that "Americans preserved British English" from the 1700s[2], and it's actually the British accent that changed.

1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Newfoundlanders

2: https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20180207-how-americans-p...