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 …