Kirk Christ Rushen, Isle of Man

Historical Description

Kirk Christ Rushen, a parish in the SW of the Isle of Man, 4 miles W by N of Castletown. It contains the villages of Port Erin and Port St Mary, each of which has a post office under Douglas, and it includes the island of Calf of Man. Acreage, 7456; population, 3415. Spanish Head (350 feet high) is in the S, opposite the Calf of Man; Mull Hills (537) are 1½ mile farther north; Brada Head (390) is on the W coast, 1½ mile still farther north; Brada Hill (758) is on the same coast, 1½ mile farther NNE; the Car-nanes Hill (900) are on the W sea-board, 2½ miles farther NNE; and Crunk-na-Iray-Lhaa (1445) is in the extreme N, immediately beyond the Camanes. The surface in other parts is much diversified, and the SW half of the parish is mainly a peninsula, between Poolvash Bay and the main Irish Sea. A meadow at the W end of the church was the scene of the murder of Reginald, king of Man, in 1248, and a tumulus, called Fairy Hill, in the immediate neighbourhood is traditionally but erroneously regarded as his grave. A tall Runic monumental cross is in a farmyard a short distance S of the church, two stone circles are in the SW, not far from Spanish Head, and two gigantic slabs about 10 feet high, called the Giant's Quoiting Stones, fabled to have been thrown by giants from the top of the Mull Hills, are on the coast near Port St Mary. Port St Mary is the principal seat of the herring trade, and has a large manufactory for fishing nets. A breakwater, called " The Alfred Pier," was constructed in 1882. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Sodor and Man; net value, £200 with residence. Patron, the Crown. The church has a bell-turret. At Port St Mary, Port Erin, and the village are three churches in a good state of preservation, under the charge of the vicar. The large schools are under the control of the school committee.