Catholic Church in the Isle of Man Catholic Church in the Isle of Man The Catholic Church in the Isle of Man is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. Although not part of the United Kingdom, for geopolitical reasons the Isle of Man is part of the Archdiocese of Liverpool. There are Catholic churches in all of the main towns, the largest being St. Mary of the Isle in Douglas. A large percentage of the Catholics on the Isle of Man are Irish or of Irish descent. Following the English Reformation the allegiance of the Manx church to
History of the Isle of Man possession of the Scottish and then the English crowns. Since 1866, the Isle of Man has been a Crown Dependency and has democratic self-government. The Isle of Man effectively became an island around 8,500 years ago at around the time when rising sea levels caused by the melting glaciers cut Mesolithic Britain off from continental Europe for the last time. A land bridge had earlier existed between the Isle of Man and Cumbria, but the location and opening of the land bridge remain poorly understood. The earliest traces of people on the Isle of Man date back to the Mesolithic