Castle Rushen is a well preserved medieval fortress in the cunningly named Castletown on the Isle of Man with plenty of activities and exhibits to see when you visit.
Visiting Castle Rushen
Being in a town it’s pretty easy to get to Rushen with plenty of parking nearby and a plethora of cafes too, that vital castle visit ingredient! It’s worth walking around the harbour, both because it is pretty but also for views of the castle as it’s a bit hard to appreciate it up close.
My Experience
A lot of places are billed as family destinations but Rushen Castle truly is somewhere that all the family can visit and be entertained. It is a largely intact castle with some great exhibitions inside that balance larger perspectives with very local and personal ones. This visit was part of a long weekend on the Isle of Man, detailed in my blog here.
Castle Rushen Photo Gallery
History
After its initial construction and use by the Norse-Gaelic rulers of the Isle of Man, the castle changed hands repeatedly between the Scots and the English. The Isle of Man was transferred to Scotland the year after Magnús Óláfsson’s death as part of the Treaty of Perth, ending the 1263–1266 Scottish–Norwegian War. On 18 May 1313, the Scottish king Robert the Bruce invaded the Isle of Man at Ramsey. The island was captured in five days, the only resistance occurring at Castle Rushen, which was defended by Dungal MacDouall. After a short siege Robert captured the castle, gaining the Isle of Man as an outpost securing the approaches to western Scotland and the Hebrides.
After several more changes of hands the English and their supporters eventually prevailed. The English king Edward I Longshanks claimed that the island had belonged to the Kings of England for generations and he was merely reasserting their rightful claim to the Isle of Man.
From 1405 to 1738 the Isle of Man was controlled by the Stanley family, beginning with Sir John Stanley, who was given the title of King of Mann by Henry IV of England in 1405. The title King of Mann was replaced in 1521 by the title Lord of Mann, held today by the reigning British monarch.
Castle Rushen in the English Civil War
During the English Civil War of 1642–1651 James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby, the Lord of Mann from 1627–1651, sided with the Royalist cause. Known as The Great Stanley (Manx: Yn Stanlagh Mooar), James established a secondary Royalist court at Castle Rushen before leaving to fight the Parliamentarians in England. In August 1651 James sailed with two frigates, bringing 300 Royalists from the Isle of Man to meet Charles II in Lancashire. Having fought several battles during the Civil War’s third phase, Lord Derby was captured at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651 and executed at Bolton on 15 October 1651. When James left the Isle of Man he left his wife, Countess Charlotte – the renowned successful defender of Lathom House in 1644 – in command of the Isle of Man. The French-born Charlotte Stanley held Castle Rushen until a rebellion led by Manx nationalist Illiam Dhône (English: William Christian) and the mutiny of her own garrison forced her to surrender to invading Parliamentarian forces led by Colonel Robert Duckenfield by the end of October 1651.
References
The history above is taken from the Wiki site here.
The Isle of Man tourist board has excellent information for your visit to Castle Rushen here.