Rushen ( ; ), formally Kirk Christ Rushen, is one of the seventeen historic

parishes A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

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 is located in the south of the island (part of the traditional ''South Side'' division) in the sheading of the same name. Administratively, part of the historic parish of Rushen, and the majority of the population, is now covered by the

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

s of

Port Erin Port Erin ( 'lord's port' or originally 'Irish port') is a seaside village in the south-west of the Isle of Man, in the historic parish of Rushen. It was previously a seaside resort before the decline of the tourist trade. Administratively it ...

and

Port St Mary Port St Mary ( or ''Purt-noo-Moirrey'' ) is a village district in the south-west of the Isle of Man. The village takes its name from the former Chapel of St Mary () which is thought to have overlooked Chapel Bay in the village. Its population ...

. As a result, there is an

exclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...

of the parish district which includes the

Calf of Man Calf of Man ( ) is a island, off the southwest coast of the Isle of Man. It is separated from the Isle of Man by a narrow stretch of water called the Calf Sound. Like the nearby rocky islets of Chicken Rock and Kitterland, it is part of th ...

. Other settlements in the parish include

Cregneash Cregneash or Cregneish () is a small village and tourist destination in the extreme south-west of the Isle of Man, about from Port Erin. Most of the village is now part of a living museum run by Manx National Heritage. There are also a num ...

Local government

For the purposes of

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

, the majority of the area of the historic parish formed a single parish

, with

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...

s, but this has now been amalgamated with Arbory.(See Arbory and Rushen.) Since the 1880s, two areas of the historic parish of Rushen have been the separate village districts of Port Erin and Port St Mary, each with its own village commissioners. The

Captain of the Parish The Captain of the Parish is an official in each parish in the Isle of Man—formerly the title was ''Captain of the Parish Militia'', but it is now only a titular honour. Historically the Captain of the Parish was authorised to raise his own mi ...

(since 2023) is Paul Costain.

Politics

Rushen parish is split between two House of Keys constituencies: Rushen, covering the majority of the parish including Port Erin and Port St Mary, and the Arbory, Castletown & Malew constituency, which covers the eastern part of the historic parish. Each constituency elects two Members to the

House of Keys The House of Keys () is the directly elected lower house of Tynwald, the parliament of the Isle of Man, the other branch being the Legislative Council. History The oldest known reference to the name is in a document of 1417, written in Lat ...

. Before 2016, the whole parish was in the Rushen constituency.

Geography

Rushen parish includes the southwestern extremity of the island, together with the

, along with its rocky outcrops Kitterland and Chicken Rock, and encompasses an area of about . It stretches along the coast from Strandhall (located about halfway between Castletown and

) to the precipices west of Cronk ny Irrey Laa (Hill of the Day Watch, also spelled Arrey), known as the Stacks or the Slogh, covering a distance of . The principal headlands are Kallow Point, Black Head, Spanish Head (), and Bradda Head (); and the main inlets include Port St Mary Bay, Perwick Bay, Bay Stacka, Port Erin Bay, and Fleshwick Bay. The west of the parish is hilly, extending southwards from Cronk ny Irrey Laa (, the highest point in the parish) along the western coast to Lhiattee ny Beinnee, Bradda Hill, Mull Hill, and the Sound, across which the ridge continues onto the Calf.

and

are the only significant settlements in the area, although they have now expanded to form a single continuous settlement.

is a small village and folk museum near Mull Hill.

Demographics

The Isle of Man census of 2016 recorded a parish population of 1,537, indicating a decrease of 6% from the figure of 1,629 in 2011. At the time of the 2011 census, 2.64% of the parish population were able to speak

Manx Gaelic Manx ( or , or ), also known as Manx Gaelic, is a Goidelic language, Gaelic language of the insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, itself a branch of the Indo-European language family. Manx is the heritage language of the Manx ...

Rushen Internment Camp in World War Two

Rushen was repurposed as a detention camp during World War II, accommodating over 3,500 women and children. These internees, considered "enemy aliens," included many refugees who had previously fled persecution in Europe. The camp, which operated from 30 May 1940 to September 1945, was the only civilian camp on the island which held women and children as civilian internees. Some of the detainees were lodged with local families, while others were housed in requisitioned boarding houses. The male detainees were held in Douglas.

References

External links

Manxnotebook - Rushen
with full description of the parish
Isle of Man Building Control Districts
showing parish boundaries
Great.Outdoors.com/ManxGlens Glenology - Manx Glens
An ongoing study of Manx glens, their locations and meanings.
Rushen Parish CommissionersGeoHive Census InformationConstituency maps and general election results
{{Isle of Man Parishes of the Isle of Man Constituencies of the Isle of Man