Historic parish and sheading in the south of the Isle of Man.

Kirk Christ Rushen was one of the seventeen traditional parishes. An early eighteenth-century description connected the parish name with the church being built beside a “Rushy bog”. That explanation belongs to the antiquarian tradition and is not in itself evidence for the origin of the name.

The parish covered much of the southern peninsula, including the uplands above the coast. William Sacheverell recorded an unusual feature in its mountainous ground: a pool which he described as having water of such a “vitriolic” quality that ducks and geese could not live near it. He thought the effect might be connected with signs of copper in the surrounding hills.

Rushen was also one of the Island's six sheadings. Following the reorganisation of the Common Law Courts in 1796, Malew, Rushen and Arbory formed Rushen Sheading and, with Middle and Glanfaba, made up the Southern District.

The Sheading Courts dealt with civil actions, land titles and other local business. Earlier practice brought juries and parish representatives to the courts, while deeds concerning land were produced for confirmation and enrolment. The courts generally met in May and October; for the southern sheadings the Common Law Court was held at Castletown, with separate days assigned to the business of each sheading.

Rushen Abbey lay within the same sheading, though in Malew parish. A nineteenth-century description placed the abbey on the western bank of the Silverburn at Ballasalla, two miles north of Castletown.