customs

Happy Laa Luanys.   It’s that time of the year when the bounty of the land and the strength of the summer days bring us a much needed harvest. May…

Lovely video by Culture Vannin on the rediscovery of Chibbyr Baltane in the parish of Rushen!  This important well was visited by our ancestors for healing through the centuries but…

In the Old Style calendar this day was celebrated on May 12 and was called Shenn Laa Boaldyn, Old May Day.  Boaldyn, known as ‘Bealtaine‘ in Ireland and ‘Bealltainn‘ in…

Not everybody liked the flowers of the country side. My father, like many farmers, regarded some wild flowers as weeds and detrimental to his crops so they had to be…

Tynwald is the greatest monument that the Norsemen have left us.  The ceremony which is seen at Cronk y Keeill Eoin, ‘the Mound of the Church of St John,’ is…

In older times on the Isle of Man, for the majority of people marriage was ‘until death us do part.’ Divorce and separation were not lightly regarded nor much sought…

We can’t go back in time and change what’s happened but we can work on the present moment to make a better future. May all your present moments bring you…

On Christmas Eve, called in Manx, “Oie’l Verrey,” the Eve of Mary, a singular and interesting custom is observed, which attracts large numbers to the parish church for the purpose…