Cronk ny Arrey Laa is a hill in the south west of the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

. It may be confused with a hill of a similar name in the parish of

Jurby Jurby ( – deer settlement - animal park) () is one of the seventeen List of parishes of the Isle of Man, parishes of the Isle of Man. It is located in the north-west of the island (part of the traditional ''North Side'' division) in the shead ...

, further north along the west coast of the island. At it is the second highest hill in this part of the island, after the

South Barrule The South Barrule () is the highest hill in the south of the Isle of Man. It has the remains of a fort on its summit, which is traditionally the home of the Manx god of the sea Mannanan beg mac y Leir. The hill is largely surrounded by conifer ...

, 2 miles (3 km) to the east. It is in the parish of

Rushen Rushen ( ; ), formally Kirk Christ Rushen, is one of the seventeen historic parishes of the Isle of Man. It is located in the south of the island (part of the traditional ''South Side'' division) in the sheading of the same name. Administrat ...

, although the boundary with the parish of Patrick is only about 200 metres to the north of its summit.

Name

Its name means ''Hill of the Day Watch'' due to it having been used as a look out post for invaders during the time of the

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

invasions. The hill is also known locally as Cronk ny Irree-Laa, meaning ''hill of the rising day'' or ''dawn''. It was said that when the sun broke over this hill, it was a sign to the herring-fishers to shoot their nets.

Features

Its steep western slope rises directly out of the sea in a cliff. The area surrounding it has also been described by Trail Magazine as "some of the wildest terrain on any British coast path". and by Manx National Heritage as "amongst the most spectacular to be seen anywhere in the British Isles." However, the summit is only about 500 metres from the main road between Port Erin/Port St Mary and Peel, and may be climbed as part of an easy day walk between those places. The summit is on the long-distance path, the

Raad ny Foillan is a coastal long-distance footpath in the Isle of Man. Because it is a closed loop around the coast, it can be walked in either a clockwise or an anti-clockwise direction. Route and history The ' starts and finishes at the Millennium Bridge o ...

. The summit is one of the few places anywhere with views of what Manx people call "the six kingdoms" (Mann, England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and Heaven), with some adding a seventh "kingdom", Neptune (the sea). The boggy slopes are home to unusual plant species such as the carnivorous

sundew ''Drosera'', which is commonly known as the sundews, is one of the largest genera of carnivorous plants, with at least 194 species. 2 volumes. These members of the family Droseraceae lure, capture, and digest insects using stalked mucilaginous ...

Pilgrimage site

This is an ancient place of

Christian pilgrimage Christianity has a strong tradition of pilgrimages, both to sites relevant to the New Testament narrative (especially in the Holy Land) and to sites associated with later saints or miracles. History Christian pilgrimages were first made to sit ...

going back to the days of the

Celtic Church Celtic Christianity is a form of Christianity that was common, or held to be common, across the Celtic-speaking world during the Early Middle Ages. The term Celtic Church is deprecated by many historians as it implies a unified and identifiab ...

. Two particular sites on the slopes of Cronk ny Arrey Laa were visited: the

holy well A holy well or sacred spring is a well, Spring (hydrosphere), spring or small pool of water revered either in a Christianity, Christian or Paganism, pagan context, sometimes both. The water of holy wells is often thought to have healing qualitie ...

known as "Chibbyr ny Vashtey" ("The Well of Baptism") and the ruins of a ''

Keeill Keeill (also ''keill, keeil''; plural ''kialteenyn'' or ''keeills'') is a specific type of small simple chapel found on the Isle of Man and built between the 6th and 12th centuries. Etymology The word is a borrowing from Manx Gaelic where it me ...

'' (parish church, hermitage, or monastery) at Lag ny Keeilley on the steep western face, which remained a burial ground until c. 1800.Lag ny Keeily
/ref>

References

External links

Cronk ny Arrey Laa with sea mist

Cronk ny Arrey Laa, sea cliffs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cronk Ny Arrey Laa Catholic Church in the Isle of Man Catholic pilgrimage sites Holy wells in England Mass rocks Mountains and hills of the Isle of Man Roman Catholic shrines in the United Kingdom