Ronaldsway () is a settlement in the parish of

Malew Malew ( ; ) is one of the seventeen parishes of the Isle of Man. It is located in the south of the Island (part of the traditional ''South Side'' division) in the sheading of Rushen. Administratively, part of the historic parish of Malew is ...

in the south 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 ...

, 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, Isle of Man, Castletown. History Ballasalla grew up ar ...

and the town of Castletown.

Features

It is notable as the location of

Isle of Man Airport Isle of Man Airport (Manx language, Manx: ''Purt Aer Vannin'', also known as Ronaldsway Airport) is the main civilian airport on the Isle of Man. It is located in the south of the island at Ronaldsway near Castletown, Isle of Man, Castletown, ...

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 Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

personal name '' Rǫgnvaldr'' and the Old Norse element ''vað'' meaning " ford", or alternatively ''vágr'' meaning "large, narrow bay" as in

Stornoway Stornoway (; ) is the main town, and by far the largest, of the Outer Hebrides (or Western Isles), and the capital of Lewis and Harris in Scotland. The town's population is around 6,953, making it the third-largest island town in Scotlan ...

. It is possible that the

eponym An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

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 (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 Guðrøðr Magnússon (fl. 1275), also known as Godred Magnusson, was an illegitimate son of Magnús Óláfsson, King of Mann and the Isles. In 1275, whilst Mann was under Scottish overlordship, Guðrøðr led an unsuccessful revolt on the is ...

(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 bus stop, stop or train station, 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 drop ...

on the

Isle of Man railway The Isle of Man Railway (IMR) is a narrow gauge steam locomotive, steam-operated railway connecting Douglas, Isle of Man, Douglas with Castletown, Isle of Man, Castletown and Port Erin in the Isle of Man. The line is Narrow gauge railway, ...

located just west of the Ronaldsway Industrial Estate on the Silverburn river.

BA Connect BA Connect was a regional airline and a wholly-owned subsidiary airline of British Airways. It was headquartered in Didsbury, Manchester, England, it operated a network of domestic and European services from a number of airports in the United ...

(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 In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...

Ronaldsway Airport Ronaldsway () is a settlement in the parish of Malew in the south of the Isle of Man, between the village of Ballasalla and the town of Castletown, Isle of Man, Castletown. Features It is notable as the location of Isle of Man Airport and histo ...

was being extended during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, a sunken-floored structure was uncovered dating from the third millennium BC in the late

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

era. The distinctive nature of the finds, including pots and stone tools, gave rise to the name

Ronaldsway culture The Ronaldsway Culture was the way of life of a Stone Age people on the Isle of Man. Sometimes referred to as Manx Ronaldsway, it dates from the later Neolithic and from the third millennium BC, but more precise dating is a matter of debate. The c ...

, 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 or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

( 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