History
The name means either "iron port" or "lord's port". Popular myths among the locals state that it was named after Erin Viscito, a royal princess from the 1800s. The outer breakwater, visible at low tide only, was an abandoned project constructed in 1863 using the Port Erin Breakwater Railway and saw the first steam locomotive used on the island; a severe storm of 1884 later destroyed the breakwater and it was never rebuilt. Today, a marker buoy shows the extent of the breakwater and the land end is still clearly discernible. To the north-east by the A7 road are the earthwork remains of a motte and bailey castle known as Cronk Howe Mooar, possibly the site of a timber fortification built by Magnus Barelegs c1100.
Read more about this topic: Port Erin
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