Isle of Man Guide

A celebration of Manx May Day (Laa Boaldyn) will take place at The National Folk Museum at Cregneash on Bank Holiday Monday, 4th May 2009. The event will begin at 10am until 5pm and all are welcome.

There will be a variety of activities for visitors throughout the day, including the opportunity to learn about the folklore and traditions of the Manx May Day through music, dance and storytelling in Harry Kelly’s cottage.

Yvonne Cresswell, Curator: Social History for Manx National Heritage said:

“The Manx May Day celebrations represent a time between the death of winter and the rebirth of summer, which was thought to be a particularly dangerous time in Manx folklore. Midnight on May Day Eve was a time when witches and fairies were considered to be at their most threatening and a series of traditions arose to allay fears and protect the Manx people and their livestock from danger.

The principal form of protection against mischievous fairies was the crosh cuirn (a rowan or mountain ash cross) that was placed above the door of the house, the cow shed and even tied to the cows’ tails!”

On Manx May Day, visitors to Cregneash will have the opportunity to make crosh cuirns and learn about traditional Manx cooking and the types of food that were popular at this time of year. There will be traditional butter-making in Church Farm throughout the day, and for visitors who get hungry watching all this food being prepared, the Village Tearooms will be offering their traditional Manx fare including freshly-made bonnag. From 1pm there will be Manx dancing performances by the Manx Folk Dance Society.

Manx National Heritage welcomes everyone to come along to The National Folk Museum at Cregneash on Monday 4th May to join in the celebrations of Manx May Day!

For further information on Manx National Heritage events and exhibitions over the coming months please visit www.storyofmann.com or pick up a FREE ‘What’s On’ leaflet, available from all Story of Mann heritage attractions.

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