A Roman Figurine from the Boyne Valley

National Museum of Ireland ^ | September 2013 | Rachel O'Byrne

[SunkenCiv]

We'll never know for certain, but it sure looks like Agricola had it all planned out, and may have intended to finish up the conquest, then move the capital of the province to Chester. Until the arrival of the Great Heathen Army, the greatest of the Anglo-Saxon-Jute kingdoms (the "heptarchy") was Mercia, which seems to echo some Roman and Post-Roman reality on the ground.

[colorado tanker]

The Romans occupied England and Wales for centuries. Of course they traded with and visited Ireland. We know they built at least one fort near Dublin. The intriguing question for me is was that just to protect a trading/diplomatic outpost or at one time did they want to occupy Ireland too? Not much hard evidence to answer that.

[Lurker]

They were Romans. They wanted to conquer everything they saw.

L

[SunkenCiv]

It appears that they found Ireland wasn't particularly troublesome, and was a good trading partner -- actually many trading partners, as there wasn't a single authority, or even the Caig Caigi (five fifths) until the medieval era, and then they kept drinking them up. /rimshot

After the western part of the Roman Empire was sacked and fragmented among barbarian invaders, the British Isles remained on the trade radar (trade-ar?) of the Byzantines, evidenced by Byzantine goods as refuse, discards, grave goods, under burned structures, etc, at Cadbury, other Romano-British sites, including Cornwall.

Time Team S15-E12 From Constantinople to Cornwall, Padstow, North Cornwall

[Bob Ireland]

***I didn’t find what I was looking for, but plan to try this next***

I have no evidence pro or con that my family is Irish - after all, 'Ireland' is an English word - but Celtic music has a haunting effect on me. Enya hypnotizes me.

[SunkenCiv]

Enya, huh. Right family, but...

Clannad - Mha¡ire Bruineall (Live 1978)

[Da_Shrimp]

It's known that the Irish raided Britain as the Romans withdrew - Gildas writes of the 'impudent Irish pirates' in De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae, so it may be that they were raiding abandoned Roman temples and villas.