Ronaldsway () is a place in the parish of Malew in the south of the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = " O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europ ...

, between the village of

Ballasalla Ballasalla () is a village in the parish of Malew in the south-east of the Isle of Man. The village is situated close to the Isle of Man Airport and north-east of the town of Castletown. History Ballasalla grew up around nearby Rushen Abb ...

and the town of Castletown.

Features

It is notable as the location of

Isle of Man Airport Isle of Man Airport (Manx: ''Purt Aer Vannin'', also known as Ronaldsway Airport) is the main civilian airport on the Isle of Man. It is located in the south of the island at Ronaldsway near Castletown, southwest of Douglas, the island's c ...

and historically of RNAS Ronaldsway, together with the adjoining customs free zone and industrial estate. Ruth 2006

The place name is derived from the

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

personal name ''

Rǫgnvaldr Rǫgnvaldr is an Old Norse language, Old Norse name. People * Rǫgnvaldr Guðrøðarson (died 1229), King of the Isles Derived or cognate names Given names include: *''Raginald'', German *''Reginold'', German *''Ragenold'', German *''Ragenald'' ...

'' and the Old Norse element ''vað'' meaning " ford", or alternatively ''vágr'' meaning "large, narrow bay" as in

Stornoway Stornoway (; gd, Steòrnabhagh; sco, Stornowa) is the main town of the Western Isles and the capital of Lewis and Harris in Scotland. The town's population is around 6,953, making it by far the largest town in the Outer Hebrides, as well ...

. It is possible that the

eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

of Ronaldsway is Rǫgnvaldr Guðrøðarson, King of the Isles (died 1229). The site was once a landing place for

Castle Rushen Castle Rushen ( gv, Cashtal Rosien) is a medieval castle located in the Isle of Man's historic capital, Castletown, in the south of the island. It towers over the Market Square to the south-east and the harbour to the north-east. The castle is ...

and Castletown. Ronaldsway first appears on record in the '' Chronicle of Mann'', which documents an instance when Rǫgnvaldr's half-brother,

Óláfr Olaf or Olav (, , or British ; Old Norse: ''Áleifr'', ''Ólafr'', ''Óleifr'', ''Anleifr'') is a Scandinavian and German given name. It is presumably of Proto-Norse origin, reconstructed as ''*Anu-laibaz'', from ''anu'' "ancestor, grand-father" ...

(died 1237), landed on the island in 1224, and confronted him for a share of the kingdom. Ronaldsway is the site of the Battle of Ronaldsway, fought in October 1275, in which a Manx revolt led by Guðrøðr Magnússon (fl. 1275) was crushed by Scottish royal forces. Ronaldsway is one of the 22 coastal weather stations whose conditions are reported in the BBC Shipping Forecast. There is a

request stop In public transport, a request stop, flag stop, or whistle stop is a stop or station at which buses or trains, respectively, stop only on request; that is, only if there are passengers or freight to be picked up or dropped off. In this way, st ...

on the

Isle of Man railway The Isle of Man Railway (IMR) ( gv, Raad Yiarn Vannin) is a narrow gauge steam-operated railway connecting Douglas with Castletown and Port Erin on the Isle of Man. The line is narrow gauge and long. It is the remainder of what was a mu ...

located just west of the Ronaldsway Industrial Estate on the Silverburn river. BA Connect (BA CitiExpress) had an engineering base in Ronaldsway, employing 110 people. After

Flybe Flybe (pronounced ), styled as flybe, is a British airline based at Birmingham Airport, England. History The airline traces its history back to Jersey European Airways, which was set up in 1979 following the merger of Intra Airways and Expr ...

acquired BA Connect, Flybe announced that it would discontinue the base.

Archaeology

While the airfield

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...

at Ronaldsway Airport was being extended during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, a sunken-floored structure was uncovered dating from the third millennium BC in the late

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several part ...

era. The distinctive nature of the finds, including pots and stone tools, gave rise to the name

Ronaldsway culture The Ronaldsway Culture was the way of life of a Stone Age people on the Isle of Man. Sometimes referred to as Manx Ronaldsway, it dates from the later Neolithic and from the third millennium BC, but more precise dating is a matter of debate. The ...

, and similar artefacts have been found elsewhere.Timothy Darvill
''Ronaldsway Culture''
in ''Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology'', (Oxford University Press, 2002)

Climate

Ronaldsway has an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...

( Cfb) with short, mild summers and long, cool winters. Ronaldsway has very cloudy and rainy winters.

References

Geography of the Isle of Man {{IsleofMan-geo-stub