Rushen

For the purposes of local government, the majority of the area of the historic parish formed a single parish district, with Commissioners,{{cite web |url=http://rushen-commissioners.com/ |title=Rushen Parish Commissioners |author= |access-date=10 April 2019}} but this has now been amalgamated with Arbory.(See Arbory and Rushen.)

Since the 1880s, two areas of the historic parish of Rushen have been the separate village districts of Port Erin and Port St Mary, each with its own village commissioners.{{cite web |url=http://www.porterin.gov.im/ |title=Port Erin Commissioners |author= |access-date=10 April 2019}}{{cite web |url=http://www.portstmary.gov.im/ |title=Port St Mary Commissioners |author= |access-date=10 April 2019}}

The Captain of the Parish (since 2023) is Paul Costain.{{cite web |url=https://www.culturevannin.im/parishcaptains/captains.html |title=Captains of the Parishes |author= |publisher=Culture Vannin |access-date=10 April 2019}}

Rushen parish is split between two House of Keys constituencies: Rushen, covering the majority of the parish including Port Erin and Port St Mary, and the Arbory, Castletown & Malew constituency, which covers the eastern part of the historic parish. Each constituency elects two Members to the House of Keys. Before 2016, the whole parish was in the Rushen constituency.

Rushen parish includes the southwestern extremity of the island, together with the Calf of Man, along with its rocky outcrops Kitterland and Chicken Rock, and encompasses an area of about {{convert|10|sqmi|km2}}. It stretches along the coast from Strandhall (located about halfway between Castletown and Port St Mary) to the precipices west of Cronk ny Irrey Laa (Hill of the Day Watch, also spelled Arrey), known as the Stacks or the Slogh, covering a distance of {{convert|16|mi|km}}. The principal headlands are Kallow Point, Black Head, Spanish Head ({{Convert|350|ft|m}}), and Bradda Head ({{Convert|766|ft|m}}); and the main inlets include Port St Mary Bay, Perwick Bay, Bay Stacka, Port Erin Bay, and Fleshwick Bay.

The west of the parish is hilly, extending southwards from Cronk ny Irrey Laa ({{convert|437|m|ft}}, the highest point in the parish) along the western coast to Lhiattee ny Beinnee, Bradda Hill, Mull Hill, and the Sound, across which the ridge continues onto the Calf.

Port St Mary and Port Erin are the only significant settlements in the area, although they have now expanded to form a single continuous settlement. Cregneash is a small village and folk museum near Mull Hill.

{{cite web

| title = Rushen Parish

| publisher = isleofman.com

| url = http://www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/parishes/rn/index.htm

| access-date = 2008-10-14}}

The Isle of Man census of 2016 recorded a parish population of 1,537, indicating a decrease of 6% from the figure of 1,629 in 2011. At the time of the 2011 census, 2.64% of the parish population were able to speak Manx Gaelic.

Rushen was repurposed as a detention camp during World War II, accommodating over 3,500 women and children. These internees, considered "enemy aliens," included many refugees who had previously fled persecution in Europe.{{Cite news|date=2015-05-29|title=Europe's only all-female WW2 internment camp remembered|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-32810383|access-date=2021-01-26}}{{Cite news|title=WW2's only all-female detention camp|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-europe-isle-of-man-32831664|access-date=2021-01-26}}

The camp, which operated from 30 May 1940 to September 1945, was the only civilian camp on the island which held women and children as civilian internees.{{Cite web |last=Cresswell |first=Yvonne M. |date=2020-09-25 |title=Rushen Camp: Second World War Internment on the Isle of Man iMuseum |url=https://www.imuseum.im/rushen-camp-second-world-war-internment-on-the-isle-of-man/ |access-date=2024-08-16 |website=imuseum.im |publisher=Manx National Heritage}} Some of the detainees were lodged with local families, while others were housed in requisitioned boarding houses. The male detainees were held in Douglas.

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/parishes/rn/rushen.htm Manxnotebook - Rushen] with full description of the parish
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20081031033703/http://www.braddan.gov.im/upload/map%20of%20local%20districts%20and%20parishes.pdf Isle of Man Building Control Districts] showing parish boundaries
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20081121005609/http://great.outdoors.com/manxglens Great.Outdoors.com/ManxGlens Glenology - Manx Glens] An ongoing study of Manx glens, their locations and meanings.
• [http://rushen-commissioners.com/ Rushen Parish Commissioners]
• [http://www.geohive.com/cd/link.php?xml=im&xsl=neo1 GeoHive Census Information]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20091102151345/http://www.tynwald.org.im/keys/election.shtml Constituency maps and general election results]

{{Isle of Man}}

Category:Parishes of the Isle of Man

Category:Constituencies of the Isle of Man