104-643: Douglas Harbour ( Manx : Purt Varrey Ghoolish ) is located near Douglas Head at the southern end of Douglas , the capital of the Isle of Man . It is the island's main commercial shipping port. The Port of Douglas was the first in the world to be equipped with radar . Douglas Harbour is composed of the Outer Harbour and the Inner Harbour separated by the Bascule Bridge and Flapgate. There
208-545: A Breakwater at Douglas so as to afford the harbour greater shelter and to provide a sheltered haven to ships plying in the Irish Sea . Sir William had written a comprehensive paper on the proposal prior to 1835, when more formal proposals were put forward, and design plans drawn up by Sir John Rennie. However, due to bickering no plans were proceeded with and despite campaigning by the Island's press progress in any direction
312-516: A Manx phrase is the norm. Manx is one of the three daughter languages of Old Irish (via Middle Irish ), the other two being Irish and Scottish Gaelic . It shares a number of developments in phonology, vocabulary and grammar with its sisters (in some cases only with certain dialects) and shows a number of unique changes. There are two attested historical dialects of Manx, Northern Manx and Southern Manx . A third dialect may have existed in-between, around Douglas. Manx and Scottish Gaelic share
416-640: A Manx- medium primary school. The revival of Manx has been made easier because the language was well recorded, e.g. the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer had been translated into Manx, and audio recordings had been made of native speakers. The endonym of the language is Gaelg / Gailck , which shares the same etymology as the word "Gaelic", as do the endonyms of its sister languages : Irish ( Gaeilge ; Gaoluinn , Gaedhlag and Gaeilic ) and Scottish Gaelic ( Gàidhlig ). Manx frequently uses
520-512: A badly injured Sir William aboard. From the disabled state of the boat and the loss of the oars it became impossible to take off the people and proceed windward by hauling up her anchor, as was originally intended. Any route to the leeward was blocked by the rigging of the mast which had been cut away and this left the lifeboat hemmed in between the wreck, the Conister Rock and by a point of rock which ran out beyond it. The situation of
624-528: A bell for summoning of help. The refuge, which was built to look like a castle , was designed by local architect John Welch who was also responsible for the design of other landmark buildings in the Isle of Man. The tower was the subject of a poem by Wordsworth : COMPOSED OR SUGGESTED DURING A TOUR IN THE SUMMER OF 1833 XV ON ENTERING DOUGLAS BAY, ISLE OF MAN NOTE 14 'And they are led by noble Hillary.' The TOWER OF REFUGE, an ornament to Douglas Bay,
728-568: A branch of the Indo-European language family . Manx is the historical language of the Manx people . Although few children native to the Isle of Man speak Manx as a first language , there has been a steady increase in the number of speakers since the death of Ned Maddrell in 1974. He was considered to be the last speaker to grow up in a Manx-speaking community environment. Despite this, the language has never fallen completely out of use, with
832-464: A century later it was considered to be so backwards to speak the language that there were stories of Manx speakers getting stones thrown at them in the towns." Following the decline in the use of Manx during the 19th century, Yn Çheshaght Ghailckagh (The Manx Language Society) was founded in 1899. By the middle of the 20th century, only a few elderly native speakers remained (the last of them, Ned Maddrell , died on 27 December 1974), but by then
936-467: A courthouse and a temporary gaol . The Red Pier was officially opened in 1801. The opening ceremony was led by the Duke of Atholl , who had laid the foundation stone in 1793. The construction was the first public works scheme to be carried out on the Isle of Man in many years, and the ceremony was said to have been an occasion for immense civic pride. Contemporary reports state that almost every inhabitant of
1040-529: A further examination of the calculations and costs, was which undertaken by John Hawkshaw . Concern had been expressed that the harbour, and in particular the landing pier extending from the Pollock Rocks (later to become the Victoria Pier) would still be very open in strong SE winds. Coode undertook to amend his design in early 1868, and this was then subjected to inspection by Hawkshaw. There
1144-602: A further report submitted in 1859, it was not until 1861 that a further set of plans submitted by James Abernethy were approved by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. The design incorporated landing berths with three platforms at different levels, adapted for loading and unloading at all stages of the considerable tidal range in Douglas with steps for the accommodation of passengers. The rubble stone for
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#17328012615761248-504: A homogeneous rubble mound to the level of 15 ft (4.6 m) below low water as the true base of the breakwater, hence the failure of the frames which were placed lower than 15 feet. The quality of the stone being used was also brought into question, with a request for sourcing a better quality in order to furnish the seaward face of the breakwater. In a letter to the Commissioners of the Isle of Man Harbours, Abernethy put forward
1352-514: A marked resurgence on the island, especially Moirrey and Voirrey (Mary), Illiam ( William ), Orry (from the Manx king Godred Crovan of Norse origin), Breeshey/Breesha ( Bridget ), Aalish/Ealish ( Alice ), Juan ( Jack ), Ean (John), Joney (Joan), Fenella ( Fionnuala ), Pherick ( Patrick ) and Freya (from the Norse goddess ) remain popular. Manx
1456-438: A minority having some knowledge of it as a heritage language , and it is still an important part of the island's culture and cultural heritage . Manx is often cited as a good example of language revitalization efforts; in 2015, around 1,800 people had varying levels of second-language conversational ability. Since the late 20th century, Manx has become more visible on the island, with increased signage, radio broadcasts and
1560-415: A pier was begun, however it was wrecked in a severe storm before work was completed. Then the sides of the small Douglas River basin were shored up, and there was another try to extend some sort of protective structure out to sea; but this again failed. In 1787 the pier was reduced to rubble following a series of winter storms, and so for many years Douglas Harbour was fully exposed to easterly gales, whilst in
1664-476: A recalculated structure of a length of 700 ft (213.4 m) and with a revised cost of completion being £33,705 (£2,891,548 in 2014), (£13,116) less than the original contract sum. In addition a cost was submitted for the improving the roadway to the breakwater. This was submitted at £850 (£72,921 in 2014). The breakwater sustained significant damage in early February 1865, when a storm described as "unequalled in its fury and unexampled in its effects" pounded
1768-438: A refuge for survivors until help could arrive. Sir William, who personally contributed a high proportion of the costs, secured a substantial number of public contributions for funding the building. The owner of the private islet was persuaded to give their permission for the refuge. After its construction, the building was stocked with provisions such as bread and fresh water for any shipwrecked persons. The tower originally housed
1872-480: A renewed sense of ethnic identity. The revival of Manx was aided by the recording work done in the 20th century by researchers. Most notably, the Irish Folklore Commission was sent in with recording equipment in 1948 by Éamon de Valera . Also important in preserving the Manx language was work conducted by the late Brian Stowell, who is considered personally responsible for the current revival of
1976-423: A scholarly revival had begun and a few people had started teaching it in schools. The Manx Language Unit was formed in 1992, consisting of three members and headed by Manx Language Officer Brian Stowell , a language activist and fluent speaker, "which was put in charge of all aspects of Manx language teaching and accreditation in schools." This led to an increased interest in studying the Manx language and encouraged
2080-488: A situation which at any time could have proved fatal. The crew of the St George consisted of 22 and the lifeboat 18. They finally all managed to get into the lifeboat, by now taking a large quantity of water which had to be constantly bailed out by the use of buckets which had been taken from the St George . With the use of the remaining oars the lifeboat was cast off and the cable cast away, but she struck violently on
2184-428: A slight amendment of the line of the breakwater at the northeast end. In a letter to Tynwald , Coode cited his work on a similar structure at Alderney as well as emphasising Hawkshaw's agreement with the costings and calculations, and reaffirming that the materials recommended would be adequate to withstand the frequent winter storms. Nevertheless, there was still strong opposition to the construction. Just as had been
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#17328012615762288-554: Is Primitive Irish (like modern Irish and Scottish Gaelic). The island either lends its name to or takes its name from Manannán , the Brythonic and Gaelic sea god who is said in myth to have once ruled the island. Primitive Irish is first attested in Ogham inscriptions from the 4th century AD. These writings have been found throughout Ireland and the west coast of Great Britain . Primitive Irish transitioned into Old Irish through
2392-727: Is [t̪roᵇm] in the North but [t̪roː(ᵇ)m] in the South. This feature is also found in Cornish . Southern Manx tended to lose word-initial [ɡ] before [lʲ] , which was usually preserved in the North, e.g. glion "glen" and glioon "knee" are and [lʲɔᵈn] and [lʲuːᵈn] in the South but [ɡlʲɔᵈn] and [ɡlʲuːn] in the North. In modern times, the small size of the island and the improvement in communications precludes any regional dialect variations. St Mary%27s Isle#St George Rescue St Mary's Isle (also known as Conister Rock or
2496-698: Is a corruption of the Manx Kione y sker meaning the 'head of the reef'. On Friday 19 November 1830, under the command of Lieutenant John Tudor R.N. , the packet steamer St George arrived in Douglas from Liverpool with mail and passengers. The St George belonged to the Saint George Steam Packet Company of Liverpool and at that time was engaged in competition with the newly established Isle of Man Steam Packet Company . Once her passengers and mail were unloaded,
2600-415: Is a sea terminal building at the north-east end of the harbour, co-located with the harbour control. The Outer Harbour features two jetties, four piers, eleven berths, and an area designated for lifeboats. The piers are: The two jetties are: The Inner Harbour allows access and berthing of small vessels. By tonnage, the port's primary traffic is from the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company fleet. In
2704-400: Is known as pre-occlusion . In Southern Manx, however, there is also pre-occlusion of [d] before [l] and of [ɡ] before [ŋ] , as in [ʃuːᵈl] for shooyl "walking" and [lɔᶢŋ] for lhong "ship". These forms are generally pronounced without pre-occlusion in the North. Pre-occlusion of [b] before [m] , on the other hand, is more common in the North, as in trome "heavy", which
2808-629: Is not officially recognised by any national or regional government, although its contribution to Manx culture and tradition is acknowledged by some governmental and non-governmental bodies. The Standing Orders of the House of Keys provide that: "The proceedings of the House shall be in English; but if a Member at any point pronounces a customary term or sentence in Manx Gaelic or any other language,
2912-622: Is occasionally used. The language is usually referred to in English as "Manx". The term "Manx Gaelic" is often used, for example when discussing the relationship between the three Goidelic languages (Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx) or to avoid confusion with Manx English , the form of English spoken on the island. A feature of Manx English deriving from Gaelic is the use of the definite article, e.g. "the Manx", "the Gaelic", in ways not generally seen in standard English. The word "Manx", often spelled historically as "Manks" (particularly by natives of
3016-624: Is provided by the Department of Education 's Manx Language Team which teach up to A Level standard. The Bunscoill Ghaelgagh , a primary school at St John's , has 67 children, as of September 2016, who receive nearly all of their education through the medium of the language. Children who have attended the school have the opportunity to receive some of their secondary education through the language at Queen Elizabeth II High School in Peel . The playgroup organisation Mooinjer Veggey , which operates
3120-524: Is that /a/ rather than /ə/ appears in unstressed syllables before /x/ ( ⟨agh⟩ in Manx), e.g. jeeragh "straight" [ˈdʒiːrax] (Irish díreach ), cooinaghtyn "to remember" [ˈkuːnʲaxt̪ən] (Scottish Gaelic cuimhneachd ). Like Southern and Western Irish and Northern Scottish Gaelic, but unlike the geographically closer varieties of Ulster Irish and Arran and Kintyre Gaelic, Manx shows vowel lengthening or diphthongisation before
3224-732: Is the treatment of Middle Irish word-final unstressed [əð] (- ⟨(e)adh⟩ in Irish and Scottish Gaelic). In nouns (including verbal nouns ), this became [ə] in Manx, as it did in Southern Irish, e.g. caggey "war" [ˈkaːɣə] , moylley "to praise" [ˈmɔlə] (cf. Irish cogadh and moladh (Southern Irish) [ˈkɔɡə] and [ˈmˠɔl̪ˠə] ). In finite verb forms before full nouns (as opposed to pronouns) [əð] became [ax] in Manx, as in Southern Irish, e.g. voyllagh [ˈvɔlax] "would praise" (cf. Irish mholfadh (Southern Irish) [ˈβˠɔl̪ˠhəx] ). Linguistic analysis of
Douglas Harbour - Misplaced Pages Continue
3328-489: The Bunscoill Ghaelgagh , runs a series of preschool groups that introduce the language. Bilingual road, street, village and town boundary signs are common throughout the Isle of Man. All other road signs are in English only. Business signage in Manx is gradually being introduced but is not mandated by law; however, the 1985 Tynwald Report on the use of Manx states that signage should be bilingual except where
3432-686: The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and in the framework of the British-Irish Council . The Isle of Man comprised the one site for the Manx language in the Atlas Linguarum Europae , a project that compared dialects and languages across all countries in Europe. Manx is taught as a second language at all of the island's primary and secondary schools. The lessons are optional and instruction
3536-465: The Isle of Arran off the west coast of Scotland . The stone was a distinct reddish colour, and this gave rise to the pier's name. In its offices passenger arrivals and departures could be logged, and there could be checks for smuggled goods which in the early 19th century were commonplace between the Isle of Man and the United Kingdom. In addition to the construction of the pier there were also
3640-412: The St George proceeded to take her anchorage in the vicinity of Conister Rock using the fixed chain cable which had been secured for the task. The night was stormy, with strong gusts of wind from the southwest which increased in ferocity as the wind backed to the southeast on the morning of November 20. At 05:00hrs the chain cable holding the St George began to give way and she began to drive in between
3744-663: The Tower of Refuge , Manx : Kione y Sker or Creg Voirrey ) is a partially submerged reef in Douglas Bay on the Isle of Man . Prior to 1832 the rock was the property of the Quane family until John Quane, Attorney General of the Isle of Man , presented the rock to Sir William Hillary , in his capacity as President of the Isle of Man District of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution to build
3848-496: The Tower of Refuge . Since then the custody of St Mary's Isle has been held by each president of the local lifeboat association. The reef is not far from the ferry terminal. Its eastern part, the Conister Shoals, had to be blasted away when a new harbour breakwater was built in the early 1980s. The rocks are only fully submerged at spring high tides; they can be accessed very briefly on foot at low spring tides. Conister
3952-501: The brig Thomas Black arrived from London with machinery and a cargo of timber. Work was also cleared to proceed for the breakwaters at Peel and Ramsey with the contract also carried out by Thomas Jackson and with James Abernethy providing the services of a resident engineer and assuming the role of engineer-in-chief himself. Whilst work slowed during the winter of 1862-63 the schedule was maintained, however an un-seasonal bout of easterly storms in mid-May 1863 caused slight damage to
4056-484: The "insular trade" and also for trading vessels using that part of the Irish Sea . It was proposed that if the Manx Exchequer paid for the building work, then such vessels could be made to pay a "refuge toll" if they were not trading directly with the island, but just using the port facilities for shelter. Coode recommended the following works: making a total length of 1,200 ft (366 m). The areas of
4160-474: The 1830s arrivals at Douglas were under 100,000 but increased steadily throughout the century, peaking at over 650,000 by 1913. Work on the Red Pier commenced in 1793 and was completed in 1801, the foundation stone being laid by John Murray, 4th Duke of Atholl , following his appointment as Governor General of the Isle of Man . The Red Pier was designed by George Steuart , a Scotsman who had long been under
4264-487: The 5th century. Old Irish, dating from the 6th century, used the Latin script and is attested primarily in marginalia to Latin manuscripts, but there are no extant examples from the Isle of Man. Latin was used for ecclesiastical records from the establishment of Christianity in the Isle of Man in the 5th century AD. Many lexical items concerning religion, writing and record keeping entered Manx at this time. The Isle of Man
Douglas Harbour - Misplaced Pages Continue
4368-464: The Fort Anne Jetty, as well as on the south face of Conister Rock, should be excavated down to a flat slope, so as to form "beaching grounds" for vessels including fishing boats. It was generally accepted that easterly winds were quite dangerous in the port, especially in the entrance between the Red Pier and the Fort Anne Jetty. So Coode recommended that once the new western arm was finished,
4472-464: The Gaelic languages of Scotland and Ireland between 1400 and 1900. The 17th century Plantation of Ulster , the decline of Irish in Leinster and the extinction of Galloway Gaelic led to the geographic isolation of Manx from other dialects of Gaelic. The development of a separate orthography also led Manx to diverge from Irish and Scottish Gaelic. In the 17th century, some university students left
4576-552: The Isle of Man to attend school in England. At the same time, teaching in English was required in schools founded by governor Isaac Barrow . Barrow also promoted the use of English in churches; he considered that it was a superior language for reading the Bible; however, because the majority of ministers were monolingual Manx speakers, his views had little practical impact. Thomas Wilson began his tenure as Bishop of Mann in 1698 and
4680-633: The Isle of Man. Since then, UNESCO's classification of the language has changed to "critically endangered". In the 2011 census, 1,823 out of 80,398 Isle of Man residents, or 2.27% of the population, claimed to have knowledge of Manx, an increase of 134 people from the 2001 census. These individuals were spread roughly uniformly over the island: in Douglas 566 people professed an ability to speak, read or write Manx; 179 in Peel , 146 in Onchan , and 149 in Ramsey. Traditional Manx given names have experienced
4784-476: The Manx language overall, a small number of modern place names on the Isle of Man are Norse in origin, e.g. Laxey (Laksaa) and Ramsey (Rhumsaa). Other Norse legacies in Manx include loanwords and personal names . By the 10th century, it is supposed that Middle Irish had emerged and was spoken throughout Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. The island came under Scottish rule in 1266, and alternated between Scottish and English rule until finally becoming
4888-542: The Manx language. The Manx Language Strategy was released in 2017, outlining a five-year plan for the language's continued revitalisation. Culture Vannin employs a Manx Language Development Officer ( Manx : Yn Greinneyder ) to encourage and facilitate the use of the language. In 2009, UNESCO 's Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger declared Manx an extinct language , despite the presence of hundreds of speakers on
4992-948: The Old Irish fortis and lenis sonorants , e.g. cloan "children" [klɔːn] , dhone "brown" [d̪oːn] and eeym "butter" [iːᵇm] correspond to Irish/Scottish Gaelic clann , donn , and im respectively, which have long vowels or diphthongs in Western and Southern Irish and in the Scottish Gaelic dialects of the Outer Hebrides and Skye , thus Western Irish [klˠɑːn̪ˠ] , Southern Irish/Northern Scottish [kl̪ˠaun̪ˠ] , [d̪ˠaun̪ˠ]/[d̪ˠoun̪ˠ] , [iːm]/[ɤim] ), but short vowels and 'long' consonants in Ulster Irish, Arran, and Kintyre, [klˠan̪ːˠ] , [d̪ˠon̪ːˠ] and [imʲː] . Another similarity with Southern Irish
5096-400: The Pollock Rocks and those of an Admiralty inspection of the same area in 1846. The comparison also encompassed the area around St Mary's Isle (Conister Rock). Coode produced a detailed chart of the bay from Douglas Head to Bank's Howe; the Conister Rock area was surveyed in particular detail. The survey highlighted a difference in the depth of water near the ruined breakwater and also to
5200-474: The Pollock and Conister rocks. Steam had been kept up during the night, with the crew at their stations, but the force of the sea together with the ship's proximity to the Conister Rock meant she struck the rock before any attempt to back her out could prove successful. The St George struck the rock violently, immediately filled and settled down forward, with her head to the land and lying almost broadside to
5304-517: The Red Pier from the vessel soaking wet and exhausted. Owing to its openness to swell generated by easterly winds, there were many shipwrecks in Douglas Bay and the surrounding area. This culminated in the heroic rescue of the crew of the SS St. George by Sir William Hillary and the crew of the Douglas lifeboat on 20 November 1830. Sir William Hillary had campaigned for the construction of
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#17328012615765408-509: The Speaker may call upon the Member for a translation." An example was at the sitting on 12 February 2019, when an MHK used the expression boghtnid , stated to mean "nonsense". Manx is used in the annual Tynwald ceremony and Manx words are used in official Tynwald publications. For the purpose of strengthening its contribution to local culture and community, Manx is recognised under
5512-454: The bay the perilous Conister Rock claimed many victims. By 1815 sail was giving way to steam . The first steamer called at the island on its voyage from the Clyde to Liverpool , and in 1819 James Little opened the first steamship service to the island, with Douglas as a port of call between Liverpool and Greenock . A year later this service was augmented, with three ships appearing on
5616-405: The case since Sir William Hillary 's initial proposal, various suggestions continued to be made, resulting in plenty of argument. This culminated in a petition signed by 182 people: 25 ship owners, 51 master mariners, 10 pilots and 96 other mariners. A music hall song was even devised, sung to the tune of Sweet Kitty Clover and entitled The Breakwater Dilemma . One of the most vocal critics of
5720-512: The consent of the Board of Trade could be obtained. The proposals were warmly received by local fishermen, as was evident in a letter of late November to the Isle of Man Times . Despite the committee's favourable reporting, there was some opposition to the scheme. At a public meeting at St Johns on Tuesday 26 November 1867, it was moved that further engineering evidence should be sought in order to verify Coode's report. This did ultimately lead to
5824-478: The construction was to be procured near the site and the design lent heavily of the Abernethy's previous designs at Blyth, Northumberland , the breakwater at Falmouth , and the piers at Watchet , Bristol Channel and Port Natal , South Africa . Two breakwaters were initially to be constructed, a southern one and a northern breakwater. The costs submitted were £54,000 (equivalent to £6,364,800 in 2023) for
5928-399: The crews of the St George and the lifeboat remained perilous for two hours, a critical situation, but after time the rigging of the fallen mast was cut away with knives and an axe which were fortunately in the boat. The size of the swell increased as the tide rose and now swept the decks of the St George nearly burying the lifeboat, and one last effort was made to extricate themselves from
6032-402: The different depths of water sheltered within the proposed work were to be: There was to be a small lighthouse tower on the southeast end of the outer end of the landing pier, containing a powerful condensing apparatus so as to show a coloured light only in the lines of the entrances to the harbour. This enabled an accurate approach to be made at night for the first time. As had been found when
6136-519: The drawings were amended and the construction shortened by 250 ft (76.2 m). During May 1864, serious damage was sustained to the breakwater after supporting timber frames gave way as a consequence of the weight of stone placed on them. This was attributed in a report commissioned by the Harbour Commissioners to non-compliance with certain terms of the specification relative to the stone filling and particularly from neglect to form
6240-502: The earlier breakwater was built, the stone available from the adjacent quarry was not good enough to be used as the main facing stone. However, the quarry was again used, as this stone could still be used as foundation rubble stone. This base was laid to a depth of 15 ft (4.6 m) below low water on the sea face and 12 ft (3.7 m) below low water on the harbour face. Above this base work were to be laid massive concrete blocks, made with Portland cement and built so as to allow
6344-517: The eastern end of the Fort Anne Jetty was to be removed. Visiting steamers were increasing in size, and at that time still had to proceed to anchorage in Douglas Bay after disembarking their passengers. A committee, presided over by the island's Lieutenant Governor , was formed to examine the plans submitted by Coode and to report their recommendations. The committee first sat on 12 June 1867, and reported its findings in November. They recommended that
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#17328012615766448-692: The feudal possession of the Stanley family in 1405. It is likely that until that point, except for scholarly knowledge of Latin and courtly use of Anglo-Norman , Manx was the only language spoken on the island. Since the establishment of the Stanleys on the Isle of Man, first Anglo-Norman and later the English language have been the chief external factors in the development of Manx, until the 20th century, when Manx speakers became able to access Irish and Scottish Gaelic media. Manx had diverged considerably from
6552-408: The forms y Ghaelg / y Ghailck (with definite article ), as do Irish ( an Ghaeilge ) and Scottish Gaelic ( a' Ghàidhlig ). To distinguish it from the two other forms of Gaelic, the phrases Gaelg/Gailck Vannin "Gaelic of Mann " and Gaelg/Gailck Vanninnagh "Manx Gaelic" are also used. In addition, the nickname Çhengey ny Mayrey "the mother tongue", lit. "the mother's tongue"
6656-465: The free escape of water and air during heavy seas. This principle had been successfully used on several structures in the Mediterranean; it was the only safe, efficient, and reasonably economic form of construction for places such as Douglas, where there is deep water and a considerable tidal range, but no large material nearby. The building work could not be allowed to hinder sea traffic to/from
6760-749: The historical consonant clusters /kn ɡn mn tn/ to /kr ɡr mr tr/ , e.g. Middle Irish cnáid "mockery" and mná "women" have become craid and mraane respectively in Manx. The affrication of slender " ⟨d, t⟩ " sounds is also common to Manx, Northern Irish, and Scottish Gaelic. Unstressed Middle Irish word-final syllable [iʝ] (- ⟨(a)idh, (a)igh⟩ ) has developed to [iː] (- ⟨ee⟩ ) in Manx, as in kionnee "buy" (cf. Irish ceannaigh ) and cullee "apparatus" (cf. Gaelic culaidh ), like Northern/Western Irish and Southern dialects Scottish Gaelic (e.g. Arran , Kintyre ). Another property Manx shares with Ulster Irish and some dialects of Scottish Gaelic
6864-482: The island), means "Mannish" and originates from Old Norse * manskr . The Isle of Man is named after the Irish god Manannán mac Lir , thus Ellan Vannin ("Mannanán's Island", Irish : Oileán Mhannanáin "Mannanán's Island"). Manx is a Goidelic language , closely related to Irish and Scottish Gaelic . On the whole it is partially mutually intelligible with these, and native speakers of one find it easy to gain passive, and even spoken, competency in
6968-516: The last few dozen native speakers reveals a number of dialectal differences between the North and the South of the island. Northern Manx ( Manx : Gaelg Hwoaie ) was spoken from Maughold in the northeast to Peel on the west coast. Southern Manx was spoken in the sheading of Rushen . It is possible that written Manx represents a 'midlands' dialect of Douglas and surrounding areas. In Southern Manx, older ⟨á⟩ , and in some cases ⟨ó⟩ , became [æː] . In Northern Manx
7072-442: The low ridge of the rock, filled, and striking again was washed over, leaving her occupants holding on by ropes. The cable was then cut, and the sea coming round the bow of the St George drove the lifeboat broadside on, upon the sheltered side of the Conister Rock thus avoiding the potential catastrophe, and they were then able to proceed towards the shore a quarter of a mile away. They were met by two boats which had put out from
7176-476: The most rugged part of the rock. Lieutenant Tudor immediately ordered distress signals to be made as well as the foremast to be cut away with a view to forming a raft so as that when the dawn came they might be rescued by boats from the lee side of the vessel, but this was found to be impractical. From his home at the Fort Anne, Sir William Hillary observed the disaster taking place and immediately made for
7280-413: The older pronunciation of ⟨bh⟩ include Divlyn , Divlin "Dublin", Middle Irish Duibhlind /d̪uβʲlʲin̠ʲː/ . Moreover, similarly to Munster Irish , historical ⟨bh⟩ ( [βʲ] ) and ⟨mh⟩ ( nasalised [βʲ] ) tend to be lost word medially or finally in Manx, either with compensatory lengthening or vocalisation as [u] resulting in diphthongisation with
7384-404: The other two. It has been suggested that a little-documented Brythonic language (i.e. related to modern Welsh , Cornish and Breton ) may have been spoken on the Isle of Man before the arrival of Christian missionaries from Ireland in the early Middle Ages. However, there is little surviving evidence about the language spoken on the island at that time. The basis of the modern Manx language
7488-1444: The partial loss of phonemic palatalisation of labial consonants ; while in Irish velarised consonants /pˠ bˠ fˠ w mˠ/ contrast phonemically with palatalised /pʲ bʲ fʲ vʲ mʲ/ . A consequence of this phonemic merger is that Middle Irish unstressed word-final [əβʲ] (- ⟨(a)ibh, (a)imh⟩ in Irish and Gaelic) has merged with [əβ] (- ⟨(e)abh, (e)amh⟩ in Irish and Gaelic), in Manx; both have become [u] (- ⟨oo, u(e)⟩ ), e.g. shassoo "to stand" (Irish seasamh ), credjue "religion" (Irish creideamh ), nealloo "fainting" ( Early Modern Irish i néalaibh , lit. in clouds ), and erriu "on you (pl.)" (Irish oraibh ). Medial and final * ⟨bh, mh⟩ have generally become /u/ and /w/ in Manx, thus shiu 'you pl.' (Irish and Scottish Gaelic sibh ; Lewis Gaelic siù ), sharroo "bitter" (Scottish searbh /ˈʃɛɾˠɛv/ , Irish searbh (Northern/Western) /ʃaɾˠu/ , (Southern) /ʃaɾˠəβˠ/ ), awin "river" (Scottish abhainn /aviɲ/ , Irish abhainn (Northern) /oːn̠ʲ/ ) (Western) /aun̠ʲ/ (Southern) /aunʲ/ , laaue "hand" (Scottish làmh /l̪ˠaːvˠ/ , Irish lámh (Northern) /l̪ˠæːw/ , (Western) /l̪ˠɑːw/ , (Southern) /l̪ˠɑːβˠ/ ), sourey "summer" (Scottish samhradh /saurəɣ/ , Irish samhradh (Northern) /sˠauɾˠu/ , (Western/Southern) /sˠauɾˠə/ ). Rare retentions of
7592-595: The patronage of the Dukes of Atholl , and who carried out a number of important commissions in the Island. The Red Pier, paid for by the British Treasury, cost £25,000 (equivalent to £2,410,000 in 2023). The pier was 530 ft (162 m) long, and was driven out to the limit of low water, extending more than 50 yards beyond the end of the old wrecked pier which had preceded it. The pier and its associated public buildings were constructed with stone imported from
7696-406: The pier and proceeded through the sound to approach them under the shelter of the lee of the rock. Some of the St George's crew were transferred into the first boat, and the other boat, commanded by Lt Sleigh R.N. was able to get a line to the lifeboat and thus take it successfully in tow to the beach. None of the forty men involved were lost. A memorial depicting the rescue can now be seen in
7800-481: The pier in order to initiate a rescue. Together with Lt Robinson (RN) , William Corlett (agent for the St George Steamship Company), Issac Vondy his coxswain, and a volunteer crew of 14 Sir William set out to render assistance. On approaching the St George the lifeboat's anchor was let go to the windward, and by veering down upon the wreck an attempt was made to take off the people from
7904-561: The plans be adopted except that the north arm should be dispensed with. They further recommended that £140,000 (equivalent to £15,658,100 in 2023) was to be borrowed from the Public Works Loans Commissioners, upon the security of the island's revenue, under the Harbours and Passing Tolls Act, 1861. The loan was to be repaid over 50 years. The committee also recommended that the works be carried out as soon as
8008-404: The population claimed to speak Manx in 1901; in 1921 the percentage was only 1.1%. Since the language was used by so few people, it had low linguistic " prestige ", and parents tended not to teach Manx to their children, thinking it would be useless to them compared with English. According to Brian Stowell , "In the 1860s there were thousands of Manx people who couldn't speak English, but barely
8112-491: The port, as the island was enjoying the beginnings of a tourism boom and Douglas was the main port of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company . To avoid a clash, materials were conveyed by barges specially adapted for the purpose and towed by steam tugs. It was proposed that building work would take seven years, with the costs detailed as: Coode proposed that the rocks on the shore between the Battery Breakwater and
8216-620: The preceding vowel, e.g. geurey "winter" [ˈɡʲeurə, -uːrə] (Irish geimhreadh (Southern) [ˈɟiːɾʲə] ) and sleityn "mountains" [ˈsleːdʒən] (Irish sléibhte (Southern) [ˈʃlʲeːtʲə] ). Another similarity to Munster Irish is the development of the Old Irish diphthongs [ai oi] before velarised consonants ( ⟨ao⟩ in Irish and Scottish Gaelic) to [eː] , as in seyr "carpenter" [seːr] and keyl "narrow" [keːl] (Irish and Scottish saor and caol ). Like Connacht and Ulster Irish (cf. Irish phonology ) and most dialects of Scottish Gaelic, Manx has changed
8320-403: The proposal was Rev W. B. Christian. He felt that an enormous outlay was to be made without satisfactory assurance that the plan was the best available. Governor Loch worked tirelessly to convince those who still questioned the proposal; he met Rev Christian and put the engineering facts to him in what was described as an affective and conciliatory manner. Christian's concern was reasonable: Coode
8424-480: The repairs to be completed by 1870. However the breakwater was again damaged in 1882 and was finally destroyed in 1884, after having cost the island a total of £45,600. Manx language Manx ( endonym : Gaelg or Gailck , pronounced [ɡilɡ, geːlɡ] or [gilk] ), also known as Manx Gaelic , is a Gaelic language of the insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family , itself
8528-407: The rubble had not been displaced. The breakwater was after this not continued with, as it was generally accepted that the calculations and more importantly the method of construction were wrong and that no benefit could be ultimately expected with its continuation. An easterly storm with associated snow on the night of Saturday 5 January 1867, swept away the remaining portion of the breakwater leaving
8632-409: The rudder being disabled and six out of the ten oars either broken or lost. Coupled to this, Sir William , Corlett and two boatmen had been washed overboard. Corlett and the two boatmen were swiftly got back into the boat, but Sir William , unable to swim, seized a rope which was hung from the vessel's side by which he was able to support himself until Lt Tudor assisted by Lt Robinson managed to get
8736-653: The same happened, but ⟨á⟩ sometimes remained [aː] as well, e.g. laa "day" (cf. Irish lá ) was [læː] in the South but [læː] or [laː] in the North. Old ⟨ó⟩ is always [æː] in both dialects, e.g. aeg "young" (cf. Irish óg ) is [æːɡ] in both dialects. ⟨á, ó⟩ and lengthened ⟨a⟩ before ⟨rt, rd, rg⟩ became /œː/ , as in paayrt '"part" /pœːrt/ , ard "high" /œːrd/ , jiarg "red" /dʒœːrɡ/ , argid "money, silver" /œːrɡid/ and aarey "gold gen. " /œːrə/ . In Northern Manx, older ⟨(e)a⟩ before ⟨nn⟩ in
8840-480: The same syllable is diphthongised, while in Southern Manx it is lengthened but remains a monophthong , e.g. kione "head" (cf. Irish ceann ) is [kʲaun] in the North but [kʲoːn] in the South. Words with ⟨ua⟩ , and in some cases ⟨ao⟩ , in Irish and Scottish are spelled with ⟨eay⟩ in Manx. In Northern Manx, this sound was [iː] , while in Southern Manx it
8944-405: The southeast of Conister Rock: the depth was measured to be some 6 ft (1.8 m) to 9 ft (2.7 m) deeper than shown on the 1846 Admiralty chart. Coode submitted a detailed and comprehensive plan for the type of structure required, with emphasis on whether it would provide adequate shelter for the harbour and enable the regular and safe landing of passengers and mail, at all states of
9048-498: The southern breakwater and £28,500 (equivalent to £3,359,200 in 2023) for the northern breakwater. The estimated time for construction for both structures was two years. This was later amended to construction of the southern breakwater only with the successful tender for the work received from Thomas Jackson of London and a final cost of £47,935 (equivalent to £5,650,000 in 2023) agreed. Work began in earnest in August 1862, when
9152-461: The southern portions of Douglas Bay, together with tidal observations and a complete series of soundings, in order to prepare drawings and estimates for the new breakwater. A particular concern was the port's exposure to easterly winds. The shore was inspected again in April. A report was placed before Tynwald on 10 June 1867; it detailed certain differences between Coode's findings in the vicinity of
9256-772: The station - these being the Robert Bruce, the Superb and the Majestic. . With the sailings of these vessels augmented by the arrival of the City of Glasgow , the full journey from the Mersey to the Clyde via Douglas could be made in 25 hours. By 1833 passenger traffic had undergone a remarkable process of progressive development, and due to the imposition of the Passenger Tax accurate passenger records became available. In
9360-475: The structure completely demolished. After Abernethy's breakwater was destroyed, Governor Henry Loch commissioned more plans on behalf of the Isle of Man Government for a larger and more modern structure. Distinguished civil engineer John Coode was appointed to survey the area of Abernethy's breakwater and to submit his recommendations. On 7 and 8 March 1867, Coode inspected the shores around Douglas, and gave directions for an accurate and detailed survey of
9464-429: The structure washing away many of the timber frames which ended up strewn on Douglas shore. This destruction led to serious questions being raised as to the design of the structure and of Abernethy's reputation. It was not until 7 March, that divers were able to inspect the base of the structure with their findings being that damage had been sustained as far as the 45th frame. The timber uprights had been snapped off however
9568-414: The sunken garden on Loch Promenade, Douglas . A subsequent financial gift of £50 was given to Sir William by the owners of the St George in 1833 to be distributed amongst the lifeboat's crew. The structure was built upon the reef on the orders of Sir William Hillary (who helped to found the Royal National Lifeboat Institution ) in 1832. After several shipwrecks upon the semi-submerged rock, he wanted
9672-460: The tide and weather: steamers had to be able to come alongside during offshore winds. Adequate shelter for the fishing fleet was also a high priority. In the mid-19th century, fishing was an important part of the island's economy; the value of the boats and fishing gear of the Manx fleet had risen sharply from £52,380 (equivalent to £6,658,500 in 2023) in 1858 to £63,482 in 1865 (equivalent to £7,666,600 in 2023). Provision also had to be made for
9776-457: The town attended; many took the opportunity to walk on the pier, which was then the nearest thing to a promenade in the town. . The Red Pier allowed passengers to disembark from a steamer more readily at high tide, but until 1871, passengers sometimes had to board rowing boats in order to be ferried to any vessel lying off. The reverse applied when they were disembarking. The scene could be chaotic, and quite often in winter, passengers would reach
9880-592: The vicinity of the Sea Terminal are the following stations/stops which facilitate passenger transport connections: By connecting with the appropriate bus or tramway, sea passengers may also transfer to the Manx Electric Railway to points north. The earliest record of infrastructure for the use of Douglas Harbour dates back to 1660. From about 1800, many things happened to open up the island to more traffic. In 1760 construction of what amounted to
9984-427: The weather quarter, but the surf would not enable this to be carried out. The lifeboat was then backed between the St George and the rocks, and despite warnings from Lt Tudor of the dangers this would present to the lifeboat, the crew of the lifeboat persevered and were initially successful. The lifeboat had now got into a situation where the rolling sea was causing it to become swamped and began to sustain damage with
10088-481: The work on the breakwater, but this was quickly put right with little or no disruption to the time scale. Concerns were expressed by Abernethy as construction continued that the length as initially proposed could affect vessels departing the port during periods of strong southeasterly wind, with particular concern being the chances of a sailing vessel drifting onto the Pollock Rock or St Mary's Isle. Consequently,
10192-454: Was [ɯː] , [uː] , or [yː] , e.g. geay "wind" (cf. Irish gaoth ) is [ɡiː] in the north and [ɡɯː] in the South, while geayl "coal" (cf. Irish gual ) is [ɡiːl] in the North and [ɡyːl] , [ɡɯːl] , or [ɡuːl] in the South. In both the North and the South, there is a tendency to insert a short [d] before a word-final [n] in monosyllabic words, as in [sleᵈn] for slane "whole" and [beᵈn] for ben "woman". This
10296-410: Was also some difference of opinion on whether the southern end of the breakwater should begin at a point to the east or the west of Port Skillion. Hawkshaw's report was completed on 24 February 1868 and laid before Tynwald on 4 March. Hawkshaw largely agreed with Coode's earlier calculations, and fully agreed with Coode's method of construction. One small difference of opinion was that Hawkshaw recommended
10400-497: Was also working on building a breakwater at Port Erin, and Coode himself admitted that the methods used were shown to be failing in their practicality and application. The Port Erin Breakwater was to be dogged by allegations of shoddy construction and design, and it was damaged by gales more than once. Governor Loch persuaded a reluctant Tynwald to grant £13,000 for necessary repairs as a result of damage sustained in 1868, with
10504-563: Was conquered by Norse Vikings in the 9th century. Although there is some evidence in the form of runic inscriptions that Norse was used by some of these settlers, the Vikings who settled around the Irish Sea and West Coast of Scotland soon became Gaelic speaking Norse–Gaels . During the 9th century AD, the Gaelic of the inhabitants of the Isle of Man, like those of Scotland and the North of Ireland, may have been significantly influenced by Norse speakers. While Norse had very little impact on
10608-527: Was slow. Much of this was to do with rival proposals for the construction of breakwaters at Peel and Ramsey both of which, as was the case with Douglas, would ultimately rely on approval and funding from the Admiralty . Plans for the Douglas Breakwater were amended by Capt. Vetch but again these were subject to differing opinions and despite the requisite monies being available from 1851 and
10712-404: Was succeeded by Mark Hildesley. Both men held positive views of Manx; Wilson was the first person to publish a book in Manx, a translation of The Principles and Duties of Christianity ( Coyrie Sodjey ), and Hildesley successfully promoted the use of Manx as the language of instruction in schools. The New Testament was first published in Manx in 1767. In the late 18th century, nearly every school
10816-431: Was teaching in English. This decline continued into the 19th century, as English gradually became the primary language spoken on the Isle of Man. In 1848, J.G. Cumming wrote, "there are ... few persons (perhaps none of the young) who speak no English." Henry Jenner estimated in 1874 that about 30% of the population habitually spoke Manx (12,340 out of a population of 41,084). According to official census figures, 9.1% of
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