I was driving along the R438 on my way from Sneem in Co Kerry to my home in Co Cavan, when it occurred to me how very long and curiously straight certain stretches of this road are. And it's not the only one I've come across whilst driving around Ireland.

The Romans have always been credited with building incredibly straight roads, regardless of terrain or obstacle, as they advanced on their campaign of dominion across Europe. However, the Romans never came to Ireland in anything other than small groups to trade and barter.

What if the Romans were just making use of a network of roads which already existed? I mean, why go to the extra trouble and expense of excavating and building new roads, when all they had to do was lay their stones over the top of a pre-existing system?

What people don't realize, is that the Celts were great road builders. In Irish mythology, the "Annals of the Four Masters" claim that there were five main roads, or slighe (pronounced slee) radiating out from the Hill of Tara to various parts of Ireland.