Portal:Scotland/Selected article/Week 13, 2010
The St Flannan, the 7th century Irish preacher and abbot. The islands have been devoid of permanent residents since the automation of the lighthouse in 1971. They are the location of an enduring mystery which occurred in December 1900, when all three lighthouse keepers vanished without trace.
The islands are split into three groups. The main cluster of rocks, which lie to the northeast, include the two principal islands of
Archaen gneiss. In pre-historic times the area was covered by ice sheets which spread from Scotland out into the Atlantic Ocean
.