Bride ( gv, Breeshey) is one of the seventeen

parish 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 m ...

es 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 Europe ...

. It is located in the north of the island (part of the traditional ''North Side'' division) in the sheading of

Ayre Ayre ( ; gv, Inver Ayre) is one of the six sheadings of the Isle of Man. It is located in the north of the island (part of the traditional ''North Side'' division) and consists of the three historic parishes of Andreas, Bride and (Kirk Chris ...

Local government

For the purposes of

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

, The whole of the historic parish forms a single parish

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 counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

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 in ...

s. 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 1981) is

William Daniel Christian William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

Politics

Bride parish is part of the

Ayre & Michael Ayre & Michael is a House of Keys constituency in the north of the Isle of Man. It was created for the 2016 Manx general election, 2016 general election and elects 2 MHK It is easily the largest Keys constituency in area, and includes the parishes o ...

constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...

, which 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 ...

. Before 2016 it was in the

constituency.

Geography

The parish, named after St

Brigid Brigid ( , ; meaning 'exalted one' from Old Irish),Campbell, MikBehind the Name.See also Xavier Delamarre, ''brigantion / brigant-'', in ''Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise'' (Éditions Errance, 2003) pp. 87–88: "Le nom de la sainte irlandais ...

, lies to the east of

Andreas Andreas ( el, Ἀνδρέας) is a name usually given to males in Austria, Greece, Cyprus, Denmark, Armenia, Estonia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Finland, Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of B ...

and to the north of

Lezayre Lezayre ( ; gv, Creest ny h-Ayrey), formally Kirk Christ Lezayre, is one of the seventeen historic parishes of the Isle of Man. It is located in the north of the island (part of the traditional ''North Side'' division) in the sheading of Ayre. ...

, bordering the sea to the north and east. It covers an area of about and contains the village of Bride or Kirk Bride.

Demographics

The Isle of Man census of 2016 returned a parish population of 382, a decrease of 5% from the figure of 401 in 2011. This means that Bride is easily the lowest-populated administrative area on the island. The parish has the highest proportion of Manx Gaelic speakers on the island (4.49%), according to the 2011 census.

Topography

There is a range of sandhills crossing the parish from west to Point Cranstal (not actually a point) in the east, from which a good view may be obtained of the Manx mountains as well as of the Scottish and Cumbrian mountains (with the

Solway Firth The Solway Firth ( gd, Tràchd Romhra) is a firth that forms part of the border between England and Scotland, between Cumbria (including the Solway Plain) and Dumfries and Galloway. It stretches from St Bees Head, just south of Whitehaven in ...

in between). Otherwise the parish is flat and low-lying. The

Galloway Galloway ( ; sco, Gallowa; la, Gallovidia) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council area of Dumfries and Galloway. A native or i ...

coast is about away. At the

Point of Ayre The Point of Ayre ( gv, Kione ny Hayrey)''Place Names of The Isle of Man – Da Ny Manninee Dooie Volume Three. Sheading of Ayre: (Kirk Andreas, Kirk Bride and Kirk Christ Lezayre)'' page 258 ''Kirk Bride'' by George Broderick – Turbingen ...

is a

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

. On old maps Point Cranstal is named as "Shellag Point" and a hamlet named Cranstal is marked close to it, but this has long since disappeared.

Telegraph cable

The first Isle of Man submarine telegraph cable to the mainland was laid from Cranstal to St Bees on the Cumberland coast in 1859. Due to damage from tidal currents the cable was later moved to Port Cornaa.

References

Manxnotebook Bride
Details about Bride parish.

Isle of Man Building Control Districts
showing parish boundaries
Isle of Man Census Report 2006
Parishes of the Isle of Man {{IsleofMan-geo-stub