Michael () is one of the six

sheading Local government in the Isle of Man was formerly based on six sheadings, which were divided into seventeen parishes (today referred to as "ancient parishes"). The island is today divided for local government purposes into town districts, villa ...

s 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 on the west of the island (part of the traditional ''North Side'' division) and consists of the three historic

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

es of

Ballaugh Ballaugh ( ; , ) is a small village in the Isle of Man in the parish of the same name, in the sheading of Michael. It is the only village in the parish. The parish adjoins Jurby to the north, Lezayre to the east, Michael to the south and south- ...

Jurby Jurby ( – deer settlement - animal park) () is one of the seventeen List of parishes of the Isle of Man, parishes of the Isle of Man. It is located in the north-west of the island (part of the traditional ''North Side'' division) in the shead ...

and

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...

Historic parish

Michael () is one of the seventeen historic

es of the

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

. Other settlements in the parish include

Barregarrow Barregarrow ( ) is a hamlet and district in the Isle of Man. It is a hilly area and is part of the Isle of Man TT motorcycle race course. Description The area of Bayr Garrow or Barrowgarrow is a former area of mountain commons or "rough" pastur ...

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 whole of the historic parish forms a single

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 ...

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. The district of Michael was formed in 1989 by the re-amalgamation of two local authority areas, Michael village and the larger rural area of Michael parish. These two local authority areas had been separated from one another in 1905. 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 1970) is

John James Martin Cannell John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Ep ...

Politics

Michael 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 general election and elects 2 MHK It is easily the largest Keys constituency in area, and includes the parishes of Michael (parish), Mich ...

constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

, 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 Lat ...

. Before 2016 it was in the

constituency.

Geography

Michael Parish has, according to the 2016 census, 1,591 residents, down from 1,729 in 2011. It is a mainly agricultural area on the west coast of the island. It was until 2016 a House of Keys constituency. The only significant settlement in the parish or district is the village of Kirk Michael. The TT motorcycle race course known as the

Snaefell Mountain Course The Isle of Man TT Mountain Course or ''TT Course'' or ''Snaefell Mountain Course'' or ''Elmo’s Mountain Course'' is a street and Road racing, public rural road circuit located in the Isle of Man, used for motorcycle racing. The motorcycle ''T ...

runs through Kirk Michael village. Michael District stretches from the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...

in the west, inland to Druidale in the east and from Orrisdale in the north to Glen Cam in the south. The district contains few settlements; the main village is Kirk Michael. There is a coastal strip, about 3 km wide, of agricultural land, and the remainder of the parish consists of moorland, of which the highest points are Slieau Freoaghane (), Sartfell (), Slieau Curn () and Slieau Dhoo () (together known as the Michael Hills). The main road running through Kirk Michael village forms part of the

Isle of Man TT The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May and June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907 Isle of Man TT, 1907. The event begins on the UK Spring Bank Holiday at the e ...

road race course, on the A3 leading towards

Ballaugh Bridge __NOTOC__ Ballaugh Bridge is located on the primary A3 Castletown to Ramsey road and adjacent to the road junctions with the A10 Ballaugh to Ramsey coast road and the tertiary C37 Ballaugh Glen Road in the parish of Ballaugh in the Isle of M ...

. Kirk Michael is served by buses between Peel and Ramsey (and also between Douglas and Ramsey via Ballacraine). It is on the course of the former

Manx Northern Railway The Manx Northern Railway (MNR) was the second common carrier railway built in the Isle of Man. It was a steam railway between St John's and Ramsey. It operated as an independent concern only from 1879 to 1905. History When the people ...

The village

The name of the village is derived from "Kirk" ("Church") of Michael. The parish church of St Michael in the village contains a large collection of Manx Norse crosses. The village is served by several small local shops, a primary school and a public house. The

Mitre The mitre (Commonwealth English) or miter (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, see spelling differences; both pronounced ; ) is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of ...

Hotel, the local public house is named in connection with Bishop's Court and was once patronised by

Fletcher Christian Fletcher Christian (25 September 1764 – 20 September 1793) was an English sailor who led the mutiny on the ''Bounty'' in 1789, during which he seized command of the Royal Navy vessel from Lieutenant William Bligh. In 1787, Christian was ap ...

(

Mutiny on the Bounty The mutiny on the ''Bounty'' occurred in the South Pacific Ocean on 28 April 1789. Disaffected crewmen, led by acting-Lieutenant Fletcher Christian, seized control of the ship, , from their captain, Lieutenant (navy), Lieutenant William Bli ...

). "Christian" is a popular Manx surname. On the same plot of land as the Mitre Hotel stands the Ecclesiastical Courthouse. First built in 1766, at the request of Bishop Wilson, and then later rebuilt in 1835, it was the last working rural courthouse on the Isle of Man. Frequent bus services run to the towns of

Ramsey Ramsey may refer to: Companies *Ramsey (retailer), Turkish clothing retailer People * Ramsey (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Ramsey (surname), including a list of people with the surname * Baron de Ramsey, a title i ...

Peel Peel or Peeling may refer to: Places Australia * Peel (Western Australia) * Peel, New South Wales * Peel River (New South Wales) Canada * Peel Parish, New Brunswick * Peel, New Brunswick, an unincorporated community in Peel Parish * Pee ...

and

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals * Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking * Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...

Twin towns

Ghamrang,

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

Other places of interest

Local areas of interest include: *Glen Wyllin village and Glen Wyllin itself (the Glen was once the site of a trout farm but the farm was lost due to

coastal erosion Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of Wind wave, waves, Ocean current, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts ...

). Glen Wyllin now has a seasonal camp site. *Cooildarry Nature Reserve (in the upper part of Glen Wyllin). *Bishop's Court, the former residence of the Bishop of

Sodor and Man The Diocese of Sodor and Man is a diocese of the Church of England. It is one of only two Church of England dioceses not within the United Kingdom (the other is the Diocese in Europe). Originally much larger, today it covers just the Isle of Man ...

but now a private residence, is located about 2 km north of Kirk Michael village, on the boundary with Ballaugh. The grounds and chapel of Bishop's Court are opened to the public occasionally. Bishop's Court Glen, on the other side of the TT course, and shared with Ballaugh, was once the private garden of the Bishop. The glen includes an artificial mound called Mount Aeolus, which resembles

Tynwald Hill Tynwald Day () is the National Day of the Isle of Man, usually observed on 5 July (if this is a Saturday or Sunday, then on the following Monday). On this day, the Island's legislature, Tynwald, meets at St John's, instead of its usual meeti ...

, and The Cave of the Winds. Until 1987 the mound had two

cannon A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during th ...

on top. The mound was built under Bishop

Mark Hildesley Mark Hiddesley or Hildesley (9 December 1698 – 7 December 1772) was an Anglican churchman. He served as vicar of Hitchin in Hertfordshire and later as Bishop of Sodor and Man between 1755 and 1772, where he encouraged Bible translations into Ma ...

to commemorate the victory of Captain Elliot over the French

privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...

François Thurot François Thurot (22 July 1727 – 28 February 1760) was a French Navy officer, privateer and sea captain who served in the War of the Austrian Succession and Seven Years' War. Early life He may have been the son of the postmaster at Nuits-St ...

off the coast near Ramsey in 1760. *

Cronk Urleigh Cronk Urleigh (; "hill of the forecourt"; archaic ''Reneurling'') is a stretch of road situated at the 15th Milestone on the primary A3 Castletown to Ramsey in the parish of Kirk Michael in the Isle of Man. Description The nearby small hi ...

is a small hillock near Kirk Michael which until 1428 was the site of the

Tynwald Tynwald (), or more formally, the High Court of Tynwald () or Tynwald Court, is the legislature of the Isle of Man. It consists of two chambers, known as the branches of Tynwald: the directly elected House of Keys and the indirectly chosen Leg ...

Courts. File:Douglas Road Corner IMG 0003.JPG, TT course safety devices at Douglas Road Corner, the right-hander entering Kirk Michael village File:Kirk Michael, The A3 - geograph.org.uk - 481850.jpg, The main A3 road leading through Kirk Michael village after Douglas Road Corner

MHKs and elections

The following information is incomplete. The constituency was abolished in 2016.

In literature

Most of the action of ''

The Deemster ''The Deemster'' is a novel by Hall Caine published in 1887, considered to be the first 'Manx novel'. It was Caine's third novel, the second to be set in the Isle of Man and it was his first great success. The plot revolves around the reckless ...

'' takes place in Michael Sheading.

In film

Glen Wyllin (Glen Mooar) beach was used as a location in the 2004 film Five Children and It.

References

External links

Isle of Man Building Control Districts
showing parish boundaries
Glenology - Manx Glens
An ongoing study of Manx glens, their locations and meanings.
A Manx NotebookIOM Guide: Kirk MichaelIOM Guide: Bishop's CourtMultimap of the areaManx National HeritageIsle of Man Census 2006 PDFConstituency maps and general election results
{{House of Keys constituencies Sheadings of the Isle of Man Constituencies of the Isle of Man Parishes of the Isle of Man