Page 12 - Gen Mag Online November 2020

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The Isle of Man covers some 227 square miles. It is 32 miles long stretching from the northernmost
point of Ayre to what is known as the Chicken Rock in the south of the island. Width wise it is roughly
13 miles with St. John’s mount, where the Tynwald Day ceremony is held being in the middle.

Known in Manx Gaelic, the Isle of Man is called Ellan Vannin, the island is a self governing Crown
dependency, and is believed to have been inhabited for at least 6500 years. Gaelic influence started
th
around the 5 century. Prior to this it is thought that the British version of Celtic was the main language
spoken.

How did the island get its name? No one really knows the answer to this. One suggestion is it was
named after the first king of Man - Manannan mac Alladh. This particular Manannan is thought to
th
be historical and not legendary and was probably an Irish settler flourishing in the 6 century. The
Irish had been settling in the island for quite some time, perhaps originally as a staging post on the
way to the British mainland. The easiest route was via south west Scotland - just 16 miles away.

Around the same time as Manannan mac Alladh another
king of Rheged (modern Northwest England) claimed Ellan
Vannin for himself. This was Llyawrch Hen, a descendant
of the rulers of Gwynedd in North Wales. Rheged was the
last north kingdom that was overrun by the Anglo Saxons
in the next century, cutting off the British in in this region
from the British in Wales.

Whether Llywarch Hen actually ruled Ellan Vannin isn’t
known for sure, but his descendants certainly did believe
that the island was theirs by right of birth. One - Gwriad
who lived in the 800s is said to have tried to reclaim the
island.

In 627 Edwin, king of Bernicia and Deira (later
Northumbria) conquered the island. However the island
was probably not considered important except for strategic
military purposes; the people seemed to have been left to
their own devices. As such, the ‘history’ of the island really Map of the parishes of the Isle of Man
only starts from 798 with the arrival of the Vikings. The

sight of Norse longboats with their large, square sails, must have
been frightening for a relatively peaceful Christian people.
Interestingly, although Anglo Saxon culture and language was
absorbed by mainland British people (excluding Wales and
Scotland), in the Isle of Man the opposite happened with those
Vikings who settled here absorbing Manx culture.

Except for Tynwald and the Norse legal system, the Vikings didn’t
The flag of the Isle of Man influence Manx society that greatly. Rather, they accepted local
(Manx: brattagh Vannin) is Manx Celtic customs including Christianity. They also adopted the
composed of three Gaelic language and the Celtic naming system. Hence it can be
armoured legs with golden difficult at times determining which current Manx surname has a
purely Celtic origin and a purely Norse origin. There are clues.
spurs, upon a red
background. It is based on Generally speaking the Norse were roving marauders and rarely
the Manx coat of arms, settled in any place for long. However some did, and those that
which dates back to the did established colonies. and did tend to become masters of the
13th century. It has also Manx. One such king, living in the 800s was Godred mac Fergus
- a mixed Irish-Norse aristocrat. Little is known of this individual
been the island’s official
except as king of Man.
flag since 1932.