Religion on the Isle of Man

RELIGION has played a long and influential role in the life of the Isle of Man. As a body, the Manx Church is one of the oldest in the British Isles, even pre-dating the churches of York, Canterbury and Westminster. Christianity was introduced to the Island in 447 AD by the Irish missionary St Patrick. Although his actual presence on the Island is uncertain, it is known that his followers, and most significantly his nephew Germanus, founded a Christian community on the small island at Peel now called St Patrick's Isle. From that early start, the Irish MISSIONARIES spread throughout the Island, taking Christianity to the Celtic population and building many small KEEILS or churches with tiny adjacent cells as basic living quarters. The ruins of these ancient keeils are still scattered throughout the Island, either as bare foundations or buried beneath later church buildings. Many have wells or springs nearby, whose 'magical' waters were used for baptisms and healing the sick. The success of the missionaries in converting the Celts is powerfully demonstrated in stone carvings such as the unique Crucifixion altar stone found on the Calf of Man, which depicts Christ guarded by a soldier dressed in traditional Celtic garb. The teachings of the Irish priests no doubt also helped shape the Gaelic language and dialect that was to be spoken amongst the Manx until the nineteenth century. When the VIKINGS began to settle the Isle of Man in the ninth century their culture did not destroy Christianity here but rather altered the course of its development. The Viking settlers introduced their own word for church, 'KIRK' - as in Kirk Michael - and the Manx church came under Scandinavian rule, with all Manx bishops appointed from Norway and the island falling under the Diocese of the Sudrey's and Mann, Sudreys being an old word for the Hebrides. Ensuing power struggles between Norway and England led to the Island's Bishopric eventually being transferred to the Province of York and by the early seventeenth century it was designated the DIOCESE OF SODOR AND MAN - a Latinised title it retains to this day.

It was during the Norse era that the PARISH system came into being. In the twelfth century, areas containing approximately ten keeils each were organised into distinct ecclesiastical districts and the most important keeil became the Parish Church. To this day there are 17 Parishes on the Island, mostly named after influential Irish and Scottish patron saints such as Bridget (Bride), German, Michael, Columba, Andrew (Andreas) and Brendan (Braddan). Each Parish is 'led' by a CAPTAIN, whose role in ancient times was to muster the able-bodied men of the district in times of trouble. Nowadays the Captain of the Parish is relegated to a more ceremonial role, being required to take part in the formal ceremony of Tynwald Day and appear at Parish meetings. A great feature of church life used to be the PARISH FAIR held to celebrate the patron saints' day, but only the St Johns Tynwald fair day and Laa Columb Killey in the parish of Arbory are still held regularly. In the twelfth century one of the most important parishes was Malew as it was home to the Cistercian monks of RUSHEN ABBEY, powerful landowners who once controlled nearly two and a half thousand acres of land throughout the Island. In medieval times the Abbey held great sway in Island affairs but in 1541 it became the last monastery in Britain to be dissolved and soon fell into decay. The history of the Abbey up to 1374 is recorded in the Chronicon Mannie or MANX CHRONICLES, the first written record of life on the Isle of Man. The original manuscript, written in English by the monks of Rushen Abbey, is now kept in the British Museum and a copy is on view at the House of Manannan in Peel. The Abbey itself has had an ignominious past, passing between various owners, but it recently passed back into the hands of the Manx Government and is being carefully surveyed and restored.

The CHURCH OF ENGLAND remains the largest religious organisation on the Isle of Man with forty five Anglican churches and one Church of England Primary school. It is divided into three Deaneries - Douglas, Castletown and Peel, and Ramsey. The most Senior churchman on the Island is the LORD BISHOP of Sodor and Man, the Right Reverend Noel Jones, who also holds a seat on the Legislative Council of the Tynwald Court. Because of this position his seat in the English House of Lords is a courtesy seat only and he has neither the power to speak nor vote there. Although in practical terms the Manx Church is counted as a diocese of the Province of York, it is theoretically independent from English church law, possessing its own Convocation and only bound by English Parliamentary Acts in which it is expressly named. It has its own internal legislature and tithe system and retains its own Vicar-General.

The second largest Christian group on the Isle of Man is the METHODISTS with thirty seven Methodist Churches divided between the Douglas and Peel Circuit, the Castletown Circuit and the Ramsey Circuit. Methodism was first introduced here by John Merlin in 1758 and later preached by John Wesley who found here 'but six Papists and no dissenters'. The simple faith of the Manx people impressed him greatly and before long there were twenty ministers on the Island. Most towns and villages had a number of Primitive Methodist chapels and Wesleyan chapels, often situated on opposite sides of the street or one at either end. Methodism separated, on good terms, from the 'protecting wing' of the Manx Church in the mid nineteenth century and in 1932 the Wesleyan, Primitive and United Methodists joined to become the Methodist Church.

ROMAN CATHOLICISM in the Isle Of Man comes under the Archdiocese of Liverpool and The Dean of the Isle of Man is the Very Reverend Canon Brendan Alger. Manx Roman Catholics suffered greatly under the sixteenth century Reformation when they lost their places of worship and had to gather in ancient keeils. It wasn't until the early nineteenth century that they were given some land on the Old Castletown road for St Bridget's Chapel and later were able to build St Mary's Church in Douglas. Since then the arrival of workers from Liverpool and Ireland has considerably swelled the Roman Catholic population and there are now eight Catholic churches around the Island and a Catholic primary school adjoined to St Mary's in Douglas. The MORMONS established a presence on the Island in the 1840s at Glen Helen and among their converts was Manxman George Quayle Cannon who later emigrated to the United States and became the Mormon President. Their current Chapel in Douglas has about 140 members. The handful of QUAKERS who moved to the Island in the seventeenth century to escape English persecution appear to have suffered no less greatly here. Not only were they hounded, imprisoned and banned from meeting but their dead could not be buried in consecrated ground so they had to inter them secretly in glens and woods. Many were driven out and it wasn't until 1961 that the few Quakers who returned to settle here were officially recognised.

Fortunately, in modern times, the influx of new residents and acceptance of new ideas has seen a greater tolerance of MINORITY RELIGIONS and many have flourished or at the least maintained an enthusiastic core of worshippers. The Island has a number of practising Buddhists, Muslims, Christian Scientists and Christadelphians. There is a new Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall in Douglas, built by the local community, and representatives of the Jewish Community, Greek Orthodox Church, the Gideon Society and the Baha'i Faith are all resident on the Island. Full details of contact names and addresses are listed in the Government's Information Pack available from Government offices. The Salvation Army also has an active Citadel and Day Centre in Douglas. Religious YOUTH EVENTS are well attended here with camps and Roadshow festivals such as Mannifest and Firestarter taking the Christian message to young people through musical performances and modern multi-media productions. SUNDAY SCHOOL instruction is still practised on the Isle of Man although numbers have dwindled in recent years. It was, however, the first place in the world to introduce Sunday schools, being the idea of Bishop Hildesley back in 1767. The first proper Sunday school on the island was opened at Lonan Church in 1808.

Acknowledgement: Manx Heritage Foundation