Isle of Man

For the last few weeks I have been  researching ancestors on my direct line who married individuals from the Isle of Man.

Of course I had to stop and see what I could find out more about this small but beautiful and  diverse Island that is located in the Irish Sea equal distance between England and Ireland.       I obtained permission from http://www.isleofman.com to use some of the excellent information on their website.  If you have the time and interest I highly recommend you visit them.When I was sixteen years of age I spent a seven day holiday there with several of my friends.  Probably the first holiday I took without any of my family along.

My memories of it are not very sharp.   It took us awhile to get there.  We travelled by train from Preston in Lancashire to Heysham and and hopped on the Ferry and across the Irish Sea to the Capitol, which is Douglas.  I would think at least an 8 hour trip.   The Ferry alone is around 4 hours.The picture below is of the seafront promenade where we stayed in one of the Hotels there. Our week was spent Shopping and going to Dances in the evening.   We tried the beach during the day but unfortunately most days it was raining and our view looked something like this.   (Sorry about the image)One day we took a bus tour and it was not raining and we saw many lovely places and sights like this on the Island.

      

 

The reason these little thatched cottages look very much like the ones I have posted previously on the Island of Harris in Scotland is because the Island was first occupied by the Vikings and Celts as far back as 800 A.D.   Those Vikings were everywhere!

The Isle of Man has the longest continues Parliament that was established by the Vikings.  Named Tynwald, part of the British Isles but not the United Kingdom.  A Crown dependency with it's own Parliament.

Also famous for two animals the tail less Manx Cat and the Loaghton Sheep with four horns.

 

My ancestor Catherine Quinn daughter of Robert Quinn and Catherine Cubbin was born in Whitehaven, Cumberland but her parents Robert Quinn and Catherine Cubbin were both born on the Isle of Man in the early 1800's. Catherine married in to the Craig Line of my Family Tree.

                                                      Manx Flag