Re: Re: Anglo-Saxon (!!) Dublin

The presence of a house in Anglo-Saxon style and of a few artefacts of Anglo-Saxon origin does not necessarily imply an Anglo-Saxon presence in Dublin, whether it be large, medium or small. Indeed, to talk about ‘Anglo-Saxon Dublin’ is a bit exaggerated (actually sounds more like a tabloid headline). There is a mini-replica of Venice built in Las Vegas – does this mean that there was a blossoming of Renaissance Italianate culture in Las Vegas in the 1990s. No. Does it mean that there is or was at any time one person of Italian descent living in Las Vegas – No. Perhaps some Celtic guy decided to go across the water for a little trip, took note of the style of building and imported the idea (and the artefacts to boot). Mind you, perhaps there was also a few Anglo-Saxon families living in the Dublin area at the time. Equally so, this should not be of great surprise. It is reasonable to assume that there were at least some trade links between the two islands at the time. Where did the Anglo-Saxons go to if they were here and why are they not mentioned in the Annals? Well, if there were say 10 ASs here, I am sure that they didn’t go around with ‘I’m an Anglo-Saxon – Kiss me’ written on their tunics. Neither would they have made big news – why then would the compilers of the Annals even know about them. It is a bit like wondering why the family of ten Angolan exiles living in Ballymote are not mentioned in Ireland’s Own (these ten Angolans are fictional and for illustrative purposes only:) ). Is there AS blood in the Irish? Need this question be answered!

Any way, having worked with many archaeologists, I know one thing – they are happy to bring even the most minute archaeological curiosity to the front page.