The Isle of Man

Introduction

The Isle of Man is a small independent country situated in the Irish Sea about equi-distant from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The Manx people and language are Celtic in origin though for several hundred years the Island was the part of the Norse Kingdom. Today the Island is not part of England; it is not part of Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales); it is not part of the United Kingdom (England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the Channel Islands); and please don't confuse it with the Isle of Wight.

In the following pages I have assembled some notes that I hope will be of use to genealogists researching their Manx ancestors. In them you will find some brief historical notes, a short description of Civil and Ecclesiastical goverment and administrative entities, an outline of the court system land transaction procedures, and an indication of the doucuments that are available to researchers, including a listing of earliest and known missing parish records.