Ballasalla, originally a small village named from the Gaelic meaning "Place of the Willow Trees", was built mainly from the ruins of Rushen Abbey, a medieval Cistercian Abbey founded in the 11th century and dissolved in the 15th century. Rushen Abbey is the most substantial and important medieval religious site in the Isle of Man and parts of the Abbey buildings still survive and over the next several years will be enhanced through expert consolidation as more of the archaeological remains are exposed through excavation and brought to public view.
Located south of Douglas and between Ballasalla and Castletown, is the Ronaldsway Airport serving over 700,000 passengers each year with flights from Liverpool, Manchester, Gatwick, London City, Birmingham, Newcastle, East Midlands, Luton, Bristol, and Blackpool in England; Belfast in Northern Ireland; Glasgow and Edinburgh in Scotland; Jersey in the Channel Islands; and Dublin in Eire.
