An Irish-centric view of Australian English

Commentators on the social history of Australian English often refer to the presence of the Irish in Australia but the Irish language is seldom mentioned. These works lean heavily towards England, and London in particular. The discourse is largely concerned with ‘British’ or ‘English’ dialects, although Irish English is often found under the heading of‘British’. There is a prevailing theory in works concerned with Australian English that there was a movement of people within the British Isles towards the larger towns, and London in particular, and that any distinctive dialect would have been modified as a result of exposure to the dominant London one. It is as a result of this type of discourse that the Irish voice has been silenced.