St Patrick's Isle

Archeological studies have shown permanent occupation on St Patrick's Isle dating to the Late Bronze Age.

This is because, prior to the Protestant Reformation, the now ruined St Germanus of Man's Cathedral was the headquarters of the Diocese of the Isles, which in its full form included the Outer Hebrides, most of the Inner Hebrides (including Iona, Skye, Raasay, Canna, Eigg, Coll, Tiree, Mull, Colonsay, Islay, Jura, Gigha – but not Lismore, Kerrera, Seil or Luing, all under the Bishop of Argyll), the Isle of Bute and the Isle of Arran.

The Diocese may have originally contained Galloway, a suggestion thought to explain the possible attacks of Wimund on Bishop Gilla Aldan of Whithorn.

It is said to be the place where St Patrick first set foot in the Isle of Man in 444 while returning from Liverpool to Ireland.

It is connected to the town of Peel on the Isle of Man by a causeway over Fenella Beach, named after the character in Sir Walter Scott's Peveril of the Peak.