Friday 8 January 2010

Isle of Man

The Isle of Man, is a self governing British Crown dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Crown is represented by a Lieutenant Governor. The island is not part of the United Kingdom but foreign relations, defence, and ultimate good governance of the Isle of Man are the responsibility of the government of the United Kingdom.

Inhabited for millennia, the island gradually became a Celtic-Norse community as the Norse settled there, starting about AD 850. This has left a legacy ranging from the Tynwald parliament to many local place names. After a period of alternating rule by the kings of England and Scotland, the Manx came under the feudal over-lordship of the English Crown. The lordship revested into the British Crown in 1764 but the island never became part of the United Kingdom and retained its status as an internally self-governing jurisdiction.
http://isleofmanhouses.blogspot.com/