Agricola looked across the North Channel to Ireland, which could be conquered and held, he thought, by a single legion of his regular troops supported by auxiliaries. The Roman hold on Britain would then be much stronger.

Agricola's dream came to nothing. He was recalled to Rome in 84. But he was right when he saw the strategic link between the Rhins and Ireland - a link which remains significant throughout the later history of the area. Some of the evidence for later developments is to be found in local place-names. In Agricola's time, the people were Britons, speaking an older form of Welsh. In the South Rhins they are commemorated by the name of a farm, Drumbreddan (bold type indicates a place in the Southern Rhins), 'the ridge of the Britons.' Their chieftains lived in hill-forts, like that of Dunman, 'fort of gables,' 400 feet above sea level; some in drystone brochs, like that at Ardwell Bay. They built substantial fortifications, like the one between East and West Tarbet, which defends the Mull of Galloway against marauders from the north.

Probably before the end of the Roman period farmers and fishermen from Ireland arrived in the Rhins. Their language was an early form of Gaelic, which was to become the staple language of the countryside for the next twelve hundred years.

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Between 400 and 450 Christianity was established in the area by St Ninian, a bishop and a Briton, whose main church was at Whithorn in the Machars. An almost equally early site is at Kirkmadrine in the Rhins where three early monumental stones commemorate three priests or bishops.

Between 500 and 700 many churches dedicated to Irish saints were established, at Killumpha, for example, 'church of Iomchadh' (a very obscure saint), at Killasser 'church of Lasair,' a woman saint, and at Kildonan, 'church of Donnan', martyred on the island of Eigg in 618. Kirkmaiden, 'church of my Etain (Medana),' Kirkbride, 'Brigid's church' (i.e., St Brigid of Kildare), and Kirkmabreck, 'church of [Aedh] mac Bricc,' an Irish bishop, are later in form, but their origins go back to the same early period. Holy wells came under the patronage of other Irish saints. Chipperdingan, 'well of your Finnian,' is an example. The saint is probably Finnian of Moville (c.475-579), the chief patron of Ulster.

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Meanwhile the Angles of Northumbria had extended their political power to Galloway. About 739 Pecthelm, who came from the south of England, became the first in a series of Anglian bishops to be elected to Whithorn. The name Whithorn is itself Anglian, meaning 'the white house.' The influence of the Irish church declined, but did not disappear. Little trace of the Angles is to be found in the Southern Rhins.

From about 800 Vikings from Scandinavia became active in the British Isles and Ireland. Some settled in the Rhins and became farmers or land owners. Place-names bear witness to their presence. The old form of the name Stoneykirk, for instance, is Stennaker, Norse for 'field of stones, stony field.' The farm-name Float, in Meikle and Little Float, means 'a piece of flat ground.' Another, Cailliness, near Drummore, means 'promontory where kail grows.' The old name for Port Logan was Port Nessock, and Nessock is 'bay of the nose,' i.e., the Mull of Logan, which protrudes like a nose into the sea. The people of Drummore and the area round about are still known as Fingauls, a Gaelic word meaning 'Norsemen.' The principal local landowners were the McDoualls of Logan. Douall represents the Gaelic word for 'Dane.'

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With thanks to Prof. Jack MacQueen for text