THE exact origins of the name House of Keys are clouded in the mists of time. It is known that the lower house of the Manx parliament was referred to as the “24 Keys” when they met in Castle Rushen in the 1500s.

However, the widely accepted explanation is that the word “keys” originated from the Norse word ‘Kjosa’ meaning ‘chosen’. Another suggestion is that the Gaelic name kiare-as-feed (meaning ‘four and twenty’) was mispronounced.

During medieval times the ‘Keys’ were more commonly known as ‘the 24' or 'the 24 of the land'.

The earliest surviving record referring to the Keys dates from 1422, after the granting of the Island to the Stanley family, who became the self-styled Kings and Lords of Mann.

They met on an irregular basis and were not regarded as a permanent body but as a jury to be summoned when the Lord of Mann and his Deemsters required an opinion or help on matters such as law making and taxation.

The 24 members of the Keys represented the whole Island with four members coming from each sheading (a land division created by the Vikings).