The Isle of Man, also known as 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 Governor. The government of the United Kingdom is responsible for the isle's military defence and represents it abroad.
The Isle of Man had become physically separated from Great Britain and Ireland by 6500 BC. It appears that colonisation took place by sea sometime during the Mesolithic era. The island has been visited by various raiders and trading peoples over the years. After being settled by people from Ireland in the first millennium AD, the Isle of Man was converted to Christianity and then suffered raids by Vikings from Norway. After becoming subject to Norwegian suzerainty as part of the Kingdom of Mann and the Isles, the Isle of Man later became a possession of the Scottish and then the English crowns.
The government of the Isle of Man is a parliamentary representative democracy. The Monarch of the United Kingdom is also the head of state of the Isle of Man, and generally referred to as "The King, Lord of Mann". Legislation of the Isle of Man defines "the Crown in right of the Isle of Man" as separate from the "Crown in right of the United Kingdom". His representative on the island is the Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man, but his role is mostly ceremonial, though he does have the power to grant Royal Assent.
The Isle of Man has an extensive communications infrastructure consisting of telephone cables, submarine cables, and an array of television and mobile phone transmitters and towers.
The Manx Labour Party is a political party on the Isle of Man that was founded in 1918.
The Diocese of Sodor and Man is a diocese of the Church of England. Originally much larger, today it covers just the Isle of Man and its adjacent islets. Today, the bishop's office is in Douglas and the cathedral is in Peel. The diocese is not generally called either "Sodor diocese" or "Man diocese".
The culture of the Isle of Man is influenced by its Celtic and, to a lesser extent, its Norse origins, though its close proximity to the United Kingdom, popularity as a UK tourist destination, and recent mass immigration by British migrant workers has meant that British influence has been dominant since the Revestment period. Recent revival campaigns have attempted to preserve the surviving vestiges of Manx culture after a long period of Anglicisation, and significant interest in the Manx language, history and musical tradition has been the result.
The Province of York, or less formally the Northern Province, is one of two ecclesiastical provinces making up the Church of England and consists of 12 dioceses which cover the northern third of England and the Isle of Man. York was elevated to an archbishopric in AD 735: Ecgbert was the first archbishop. At one time, the archbishops of York also claimed metropolitan authority over Scotland, but these claims were never realised and ceased when the Archdiocese of St Andrews was established.
The pound is the currency of the Isle of Man, at parity with sterling. The Manx pound is divided into 100 pence. Notes and coins, denominated in pounds and pence, are issued by the Isle of Man Government.
The Common Purse Agreement entitles the Isle of Man to a share in the United Kingdom's Customs and Excise revenues in return for being in customs union with the UK and not charging any import duties on goods from the UK, or that have been imported through the UK.
The legal system on the Isle of Man is Manx customary law, a form of common law. Manx law originally derived from Gaelic Brehon law and Norse Udal law. Since those early beginnings, Manx law has developed under the heavy influence of English common law, and the uniqueness of the Brehon and Udal foundation is now most apparent only in property and constitutional areas of law.
The Archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the Archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers the northern regions of England as well as the Isle of Man.
The Isle of Man is not part of the United Kingdom, but to a large extent its relations with other countries are handled by the United Kingdom.
Thomas Wilson was Bishop of Sodor and Man between 1697 and 1755.
The lord of Mann is the lord proprietor and head of state of the Isle of Man. The current lord proprietor and head of state is Charles III. Before 1504 the head of state was known as the king of Mann.
The Manx Sword of State is a ceremonial sword that represents the Tynwald on the Isle of Man. It represents the duties of the Sovereign of the Isle of Man, and is used every month in Tynwald, and annually during the Tynwald Day ceremony. There have been three swords used for such functions over the years. One is used for the ceremonies; one is housed in a museum; the other was lost in the 18th century. The Sword of State is popularly said to date to the mid-13th century; however, it is not unlike 15th-century ceremonial swords used in England, and recent analysis dates it to the 15th century as well.
Quarry Bends is situated adjacent to the 20th Milestone road-side marker on the primary A3 Castletown to Ramsey, in the parishes of Ballaugh and Kirk Christ Lezayre in the Isle of Man.
The Bishop of Sodor and Man is the Ordinary of the Diocese of Sodor and Man in the Province of York in the Church of England. The diocese only covers the Isle of Man. The Cathedral Church of St German where the bishop's seat is located, is in the town of Peel. St German's was elevated to cathedral status on 1 November 1980.
Roolwer, also known as Hrólfr, was an eleventh-century ecclesiast. He is the first named bishop of a jurisdiction which later became the Diocese of the Isles, and appears to have served at his post before, and perhaps during, the reign of Gofraid Crobán, King of Dublin and the Isles. Roolwer's name appears to correspond to the Old Norse Hrólfr, which could mean that he is identical to either of two contemporary like-named bishops of Orkney. Roolwer's predecessor in the Isles may have been Dúnán, whose death in 1074 during the Dublin overlordship of Toirdelbach Ua Briain, King of Munster, may have enabled the ecclesiastical separation of Dublin from the Isles. The site of Roolwer's cathedral is unknown, although Maughold and St Patrick's Isle are possibilities.
The St Mary of the Isle Cathedral, also referred to as the Cathedral of St Mary of the Isle, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Douglas, Isle of Man. It is part of the Roman Catholic Pastoral Area of St Maughold within the Archdiocese of Liverpool. It is one of two cathedrals on the Island, and one of six Catholic churches. It is referred to locally as St. Mary's.In September 2023, St Mary of the Isle was granted cathedral status.
