Unlike other Gaels, the Manx are not ethnically Gaelic. They are the Norse and Brythonic (the group of Celtic tribes that beat the Gaels, or Goidelic Celts, to the punch on mainland Britain, which includes the Picts, Welsh, and Cornish) population of the Isle of Man, having been Gaelicised by colonisation from Ireland. They are one of the youngest Gaelic races, and still have many of the traditions of their Norse ancestors, but they are often influenced by the local culture and as a result the Manx Gaels in the Lordship of the Isles are not often Manx in the truest sense.

However, there are areas in the far south where Manx is still spoken as the everyday language, and although Manx clothing is not often seen you may see Norse features on both the faces and in the architecture (Norse furniture was seen across the Lordship, but, besides the Western Isles, the Norse architecture appears to have had most influence in places like Kintyre at the time of the Lordship, and the Manx are the only explanation for this given that the areas between the Western Isles and Kintyre feature mostly Gaelic or Pictish architecture).