Historical background

Manx, or Manx Gaelic, is the native language of the Isle of Man. Like Scottish Gaelic, Manx is an offshoot of Old Irish. Although increasingly Anglicised, the Isle of Man retains important elements of its native culture. This is most strongly expressed in the form of its political autonomy, of which it has a reasonable amount. The Isle of Man is not part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, nor is it in the European Union.

For well over one hundred years, however, under economic, social and political pressures, many Manx people have done their best to get rid of their own language. At the same time, they have sought to retain some pride in their separate identity. The catastrophic decline of the Manx language in the nineteenth century has naturally led to the description of Manx as 'dead' or 'extinct' in many current works of reference, and in textbooks of sister Celtic languages.

In the eighteenth century there was a flowering of Manx language and literature, albeit mainly in translation. Quoting from a paper issued by the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge in 1764: "The population of the Isle is 20,000, of whom the far greater number are ignorant of English". However, this spell of optimism for the language ended with the Revestment Act of 1765, whereby the British Crown effectively annexed the Isle of Man. This led to economic decline and loss of confidence on the part of the Manx people and eventually to the loss of Manx as a community language in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Yn Cheshaght Ghailckagh (The Manx Gaelic Society) was founded in the Isle of Man in 1899 with the stated aims of preserving Manx as the national language of the Isle of Man, and studying and publishing existing Gaelic literature and publishing modern literature in Manx. Over the years, this society has carried out valuable work, with a bias towards preservation rather than revival.


Partial Revival of Manx

It did seem that spoken Manx was destined to disappear completely. In 1929, the Norwegian scholar Marstrander announced that there were no fluent speakers of Manx remaining. And in 1934 he stated his view that only one native speaker survived. But, luckily, Marstrander was too pessimistic. From the 1930's, a small group of people made determined efforts to acquire a fluent knowledge of Manx and use it as a living language. They did this by seeking out native speakers and not confining themselves to written material. In one notable incident, Charles Craine, a bank manager, discovered that one of his customers was a previously unknown native speaker. This was John Kneen, or Yn Gaaue (The Smith), who later made invaluable tape recordings.

In 1946, it was established that there were in fact twenty native speakers of Manx still remaining. The Irish Taoiseach, Eamon de Valera, came to Mann in 1947 on an official visit. This led to his sending a unit from the Irish Folklore Commission to make tape recordings of some of the native speakers. These recordings were supplemented in the 1950's and later by further recordings made by Yn Cheshaght Ghailckagh, led by Doug Fargher, a charismatic figure who did a great deal for the revival movement. An important feature of the recording activities was that they were carried out entirely in Manx, enabling some learners to acquire Manx in informal settings.

By the time of the death in 1974 of Ned Maddrell, the last native speaker of what can be called 'traditional Manx', attitudes towards the language had become markedly more sympathetic than they were previously. More learning material was becoming available for adults in evening classes, newsheets were being produced in Manx and records of singing in Manx were becoming available. Attempts were made to widen the appeal of the language by holding Manx-speaking evenings in selected public houses throughout the island. The number of people claiming to speak Manx had increased from an all-time low of 165 in 1961 to 284 in 1971.

In 1979, Doug Fargher published his comprehensive English-Manx dictionary with support from the Manx government. This gave a significant boost to the language movement.

Coupled with the revival of interest in the language went the revival of Manx folk music and dancing. Of particular importance was the publication in 1978 by Colin Jerry of the first booklets on Manx folk music, Kiaullyn Theay (Music of the People). These booklets give the music and words in Manx of traditional songs and have a direct appeal for a significant number of young people in Mann.

Manx still has the undesirable reputation of being the only Celtic language for which it is not possible to gain formal qualifications. This situation was partially rectified for a time in the 1980's when it was possible to take a secondary school qualification in Manx under the guidance of Robert Thomson, the leading academic authority on the language. In practice, only adults could take this qualification because there was no formal provision for tuition in Manx in the schools. However, when there was a general change in secondary school qualifications, for a variety to reasons, a new qualification in Manx was not made available.

Other developments included the use of Manx on Manx Radio, the making of the first films in Manx, and the erection of bilingual road signs. Manx received some official recognition in 1985 when a resolution of Tynwald (the Manx parliament) established Coonceil ny Gaelgey (The Manx Gaelic Advisory Council), whose most prominent members have been Robert Thomson and Adrian Pilgrim, a civil servant in the Clerk of Tynwald's office. The duties of Coonceil ny Gaelgey include translation into Manx of the summaries of new legislation passed by Tynwald and the provision of authoritative Manx versions of the titles of government departments, street names, etc. The Manx versions of summaries of new legislation are a valuable source of new terminology in Manx. In 1986, through an arrangement with government, Yn Çheshaght Ghailckagh gained its first permanent headquarter, a former school in the north of the island. This is used for adult classes, meetings and as a book store.

The l990's have seen an increasing amount of involvement in Manx language matters on the part of the Isle of Man government where previously the only involvement had been the provision of adult evening classes. A government-commissioned Gallup quality of life survey showed in 1990 that thirty-six percent of respondents wanted Manx as an optional subject in schools. This survey, combined within some fortunate political coincidences, possibly led to a co-ordinated programme of tuition in Manx in the schools in Mann.

A Manx language Officer and two full-time peripatetic teachers of Manx were appointed in 1991 following a decision by the Cabinet of ministers (the Manx Cabinet). The Manx Language Officer (Brian Stowell) and the two teachers (Phil Kelly and Peggy Carswell) started work in January 1992. A decision was taken to offer a 'taster' Manx course to all pupils aged seven and over (including secondary school pupils) starting in September 1992. Pupils who opted for Manx (with their parents' approval) would in general take it for one half hour a week, coming out of other classes if necessary. It was judged that thirty minutes per week was just long enough to teach a worthwhile amount of Manx, while at the same time being short enough to facilitate the introduction of a new element into an already crowded curriculum. As far as possible, it was important to have the goodwill of other teachers at a time of considerable change and innovation in the curriculum.

The emphasis was to be on the spoken language, with as much use as possible of games and activities incorporating lively material relevant to pupils' lives. In this, the Manx team initially called on the experience of the team teaching French (French is compulsory for all primary pupils aged seven or over in Manx schools).

Plans for teaching Manx in schools had been sketched out using the teaching of instrumental music as a model. Here, small numbers of children may leave classes for instruction by peripatetic teachers in playing the violin, flute and so on.

It had been estimated that the numbers wanting to take Manx would be relatively small. However this turned out to be incorrect when parents were circularised in May 1992. An average of 40% of the primary school pupils aged seven and over wanted to take Manx (a total of 1,482 pupils). Hence, a grand total of 1,949 pupils (about 20% of the whole school population) had expressed a desire to learn Manx.

Obviously, such numbers could not be catered for with the resources allocated. In a fairly arbitrary way, Manx tuition was postponed for several hundred pupils. When the new school year started in September 1992, the largest programme of tuition in Manx ever attempted got under way with a total of about 1,400 pupils in over thirty primary schools and five secondary schools. There were still about 1,200 pupils attending at the end of the school year in July 1993. Almost all the dropout occurred in the secondary schools, particularly in two of these were there were severe problems in arranging Manx classes. Some of these problems arose because of the already extremely full compulsory curriculum rather than hostility to Manx as such (although this exists)

Although the position of Manx in the schools can not be said to be secure yet, several important points can be made:


It has been shown conclusively that there is a significant, solid demand for Manx tuition in schools. The demand in 1997 was not significantly different from that in 1992.

Pupils taking Manx are usually enthusiastic about learning the language while being fully aware that the number of speakers is small.

The 1991 census showed a significant increase in the number of people claiming to speak Manx. While the number of very fluent speakers would be much less than this number (about 640), increasing support for the language was clearly demonstrated.

Initially, the Manx Language Officer was appointed on a two-year contract.
However, the post has been made permanent, with Phil Kelly taking over as Manx Language officer following Brian Stowell's retirement in 1996.Another teacher of Manx (Catreeney Craine) was appointed to take Phil Kelly's former position.

Following a debate on Manx in Tynwald in January 1996, a proposal to increase the number of teachers of Manx by a large amount was defeated by just one vote. In the debate, no politician voiced opposition to the language, thus implying a changed political climate.



Other recent developments have been:


The establishment of a support group called Caarjyn ny Gaelgey (Friends of the Manx Language) by Peter Karran, a member of Tynwald and an effective supporter of the language. This group assists in the provision of adult evening classes in Manx, the bulk of which is outside the government sector.

The award of a biennial prize by an Irish bank for original literature in Manx. The first person to win this prize was Bob Carswell for his collection of poems Shelg yn Drane (Hunt the Rhyme).

The foundation of the Gaelic Broadcasting Committee, a quasi-governmental body with an annual budget from the Manx Treasury. The purpose of this committee is to extend the use of Manx in broadcasting in the island. Broadcasters operating in Mann are now legally obliged to include a certain proportion of Manx in their broadcasts. Manx is staring to be used by advertisers on Manx Radio.

The establishment of a Manx-speaking pre-school playgroup. Following developments in Wales and Scotland, the intention is to move towards a Manx Gaelic unit in a school, in which education will be through the native language. Several families are now succeeding in raising children who are bilingual in Manx and English, so it can be claimed that native speakers of 'neo Manx' are emerging. This is potentially the most significant of recent developments.

A Manx language qualification equivalent to the British General Certificate in Secondary Education has been available from September 1997.





Brian Stowell Doolish, Mannin