Ronaldsway () is a place in the parish of Malew in the south of the Isle of Man, 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 Abbey. ...

and the town of Castletown.

Features

It is notable as the location of Isle of Man Airport 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 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 a ...

. It is possible that the eponym of Ronaldsway is Rǫgnvaldr Guðrøðarson, King of the Isles (died 1229). The site was once a landing place for Castle Rushen 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 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 acquired BA Connect, Flybe announced that it would discontinue the base.

Archaeology

While the airfield runway at Ronaldsway Airport was being extended during the Second World War, a sunken-floored structure was uncovered dating from the third millennium BC in the late Neolithic era. The distinctive nature of the finds, including pots and stone tools, gave rise to the name Ronaldsway culture, 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