Page "Australian English" Paragraph 6

A large part of the convict body were the Irish, 25 % of the total convict population.

Many of these were arrested in Ireland, and some in Great Britain.

It is possible that the majority of Irish convicts either did not speak English, or spoke English " indifferently ".

There were other significant populations of convicts from non-English speaking areas of Britain, such as the Scottish Highlands and Wales.