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Kirk Andreas

Place

Parish in the northern plain of the Isle of Man, in the Sheading of Ayre.

Kirk Andreas occupies part of the broad lowland north of the Island. Its parish church is dedicated to St Andrew, preserved in the Manx name Skeeyll Andreays.

The church and churchyard contained a notable group of carved stones. Among them is the Sandulf Cross, bearing a runic inscription recording that Sandulf the Swarthy erected the cross in memory of his wife Arinbjorg. The crosses belong to the Norse-Christian sculpture found particularly widely in the northern parishes.

The parish also had a close connection with the Archdeaconry of Man. William Mylrea, Archdeacon of the Isle, was rector of Andreas for twenty-seven years and died on 14 September 1787 aged sixty-five. His wife Elinor Mylrea, née Gell, died in 1795.

Andreas was dominated by farms and quarterlands. Robertson's list of principal properties includes Ballavodan, belonging to the Duke of Atholl, Gilghagh, Ballavary, Ballachurry, Ballaradcliffe and Ballawhane. At Ballawhane, the family of John Tear were said to have long possessed valuable medicinal preparations which they distributed freely for the relief of the poor.

The northern landscape also contained numerous prehistoric burial mounds. One antiquarian account records a barrow in Andreas in which fourteen decayed urns or earthen pots had been found.

Two fairs were held at Andreas in December. Robertson noted that some of the Manx fairs remained well attended while others were by then almost neglected.

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