Rockall

Coordinates: 57°35′46.7″N 13°41′14.3″W / 57.596306°N 13.687306°W / 57.596306; -13.687306
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the islet. For other uses, see Rockall (disambiguation).

Rockall
Atlantic
Coordinates57°35′46.7″N 13°41′14.3″W / 57.596306°N 13.687306°W / 57.596306; -13.687306
OS grid referenceMC035165
Area784.3 m2 (8,442 sq ft)
Highest elevation17.15 m (56.27 ft)
Administration
CountryScotland
Council areaComhairle nan Eilean Siar
Demographics
Population0

Rockall (

Rockall Plateau. The rock was formed by magmatism as part of the North Atlantic Igneous Province during the Paleogene
.

Rockall's approximate distances from the closest islands in each direction are as follows: It is 301 kilometres (187 statute miles; 163 nautical miles) west of Soay, St Kilda, Scotland;[1] 423 kilometres (263 statute miles; 228 nautical miles) northwest of Tory Island, Ireland;[2] and 700 kilometres (430 statute miles; 380 nautical miles) south of Iceland.[3] The nearest permanently inhabited place is North Uist, an island in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, 370 kilometres (230 mi; 200 nmi) to the east.[4]

The United Kingdom claimed Rockall in 1955 and incorporated it as a part of Scotland in 1972. The UK does not make a claim to an extended exclusive economic zone (EEZ) based on Rockall, as it has ratified the

Irish governments has been that Rockall and similar rocks and skerries have no significance for establishing legal claims to mineral rights in the adjacent seabed or to fishing rights in the surrounding seas.[8]

Etymology

The origin and meaning of the islet's name Rockall is uncertain. The Scottish Gaelic name for the islet, Ròcal, may derive from an Old Norse name that may contain the element fjall, meaning 'mountain'.[10] Coates has suggested that the name is from the Norse *rok, meaning 'foaming sea', and kollr, meaning 'bald head'—a word which appears in other placenames in Scandinavian-speaking areas.[11] Another idea is that it derives from the Gaelic Sgeir Rocail, meaning 'skerry of roaring' or 'sea rock of roaring'[12] (although rocail can also be translated as 'tearing' or 'ripping').[13][14]

The Dutch mapmakers Petrus Plancius and C. Claesz [nl], show an island called Rookol northwest of Ireland on their Map of New France and the Northern Atlantic Ocean (Amsterdam, c. 1594). The first literary reference to the island, which is called Rokol, is found in Martin Martin's A Late Voyage to St. Kilda, published in 1698. This book gives an account of a voyage to the archipelago of St Kilda, and Martin states: "... and from it lies Rokol, a small rock sixty leagues [300 km] to the westward of St Kilda; the inhabitants of this place call it Rokabarra."[15]

The name Rocabarraigh is also used in Scottish Gaelic folklore for a mythical rock which is supposed to appear three times, its last appearance being at the end of the world: "Nuair a thig Rocabarra ris, is dual gun tèid an Saoghal a sgrios". ('When Rocabarra returns, the world will likely come to be destroyed').[16]

Rockall's name has also been used in Irish mythology; one story describes how legendary giant Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn McCool) scooped up a chunk of Ireland to fling at a Scottish rival. It instead missed and landed in the Irish Sea – the pebble left behind formed Rockall, while the clump became the Isle of Man and the void left behind filled with water and eventually became Lough Neagh.[17][18]

History

There can be no place more desolate, despairing and awful.

— Lord Kennet, 1971[19]

The 17.15-metre-high (56.3 ft) rock has been noted in written records since the late 16th century.[20][21] In the 20th century, its location became relevant due to potential oil and fishing rights that might accrue to a nation recognised as having a legitimate claim to it.[citation needed]

In 1955 the British landed on Rockall and claimed it for the United Kingdom.[22] The United Kingdom formally annexed the islet in 1972.[23] According to Ian Mitchell, Rockall was terra nullius (owned by no one) until the 1955 British claim was made.[citation needed]

Rockall gives its name to one of the sea areas named in the

shipping forecast provided by the British Meteorological Office
.

Rockall has been a point of interest for adventurers and amateur radio operators, who have variously landed on or briefly occupied the islet. Fewer than 20 individuals have ever been confirmed to have landed on Rockall,[citation needed] and the longest known continuous occupation is 45 days (achieved in 2014 by a solo person).[24] In a House of Commons debate in 1971, William Ross, Labour MP for Kilmarnock, said: "More people have landed on the moon than have landed on Rockall"[19] (however, only 12 people have landed on the moon, so while possibly true at the time, it is no longer correct[citation needed]).

Recorded visits to Rockall

Further information on HMS Endymion's landing on Rockall: HMS Endymion (1797)
An illustration depicting HMS Endymion's landing party in their small boat at Rockall in 1810, with Endymion in the background

The earliest recorded date of landing on the island is often given as 8 July 1810, when a Royal Navy officer named Basil Hall led a small landing party from the frigate HMS Endymion to the summit. However, research by James Fisher (see below), in the log of Endymion and elsewhere, indicates that the actual date for this first landing was on Sunday 8 September 1811.[25]

The landing party left Endymion for the rock by boat. Whilst there, Endymion, which was taking depth measurements around Rockall, lost visual contact with the rock as a haze descended. The ship drifted away, leaving the landing party stranded. The expedition made a brief attempt to return to the ship, but could not find the frigate in the haze, and soon gave up and returned to Rockall. After the haze became a fog, the lookout sent to the top of Rockall spotted the ship again, but it turned away from Rockall before the expedition in their boats reached it. Finally, just before sunset, the frigate was again spotted from the top of Rockall, and the expedition was able to get back on board. The crew of Endymion reported that they had been searching for five or six hours, firing their cannon every ten minutes. Hall related this experience and other adventures in a book entitled Fragment of Voyages and Travels Including Anecdotes of a Naval Life.

The next landing, in the summer of 1862, was by a Mr Johns of HMS Porcupine whilst the ship was making a survey of the sea bed prior to the laying of a transatlantic telegraph cable. Johns managed to gain foothold on the island, but failed to reach the summit.

British annexation

Union Flag
in 1955.

On 18 September 1955, Rockall was

Admiralty on 21 September 1955.[26]

The expedition team cemented in a brass plaque on Hall's Ledge and hoisted the

Union Flag
to stake the UK's claim. The inscription on the plaque read:

BY AUTHORITY OF HER MAJESTY

DEFENDER OF THE FAITH, ETC. ETC. ETC. AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH HER MAJESTY'S INSTRUCTIONS DATED 14. 9. 55. A LANDING WAS EFFECTED ON THIS DAY UPON THE ISLAND OF ROCKALL FROM H.M.S. VIDAL. THE UNION FLAG WAS HOISTED AND POSSESSION OF THE ISLAND WAS TAKEN IN THE NAME OF HER MAJESTY. [Signed] R H Connell, CAPTAIN, H.M.S. VIDAL, 18 SEPTEMBER 1955

It was the final territorial expansion of the British empire.[27]

The initial incentive for the annexation was the test-firing of the UK's first guided nuclear weapon, the American-made Corporal missile. The missile was to be launched from South Uist and sent over the North Atlantic. The Ministry of Defence was concerned that the unclaimed island would provide an opportunity for the Soviet Union to spy on the test. Consequently, in April 1955 an order was issued to the Admiralty to seize the island and declare UK sovereignty, lest it become an outpost for foreign observers.

On 7 November 1955, J. Abrach Mackay, a member of the Clan Mackay, made a protest about the annexation; the 84-year-old local councillor declared: "My old father, God rest his soul, claimed that island for the Clan of Mackay in 1846 and I now demand that the Admiralty hand it back. It's no' theirs." The British Government ignored the protest.[19][28]

In 1971,[29] Captain T. R. Kirkpatrick RE led the landing party on a government expedition named "Operation Top Hat" that was mounted from RFA Engadine to establish that the rock was part of the United Kingdom and to prepare the islet for the installation of a light beacon. The landing party included Royal Engineers, Royal Marines and civilian members from the Institute of Geological Sciences in London. The party was landed by winch line from the Wessex 5 helicopters of the Royal Naval Air Services Commando Headquarters Squadron, commanded by Lt Cmdr Neil Foster RN. As well as collecting samples of the aegirine granite, "rockallite", for later analysis in London, the top of the rock was blown off using a newly developed blasting technique, precision pre-splitting. This created a level area that was drilled to take the anchorages for the light beacon that was installed the following year. Two phosphor bronze plates were chased into the wall above Hall's Ledge, each secured by four 80-tonne rock-anchor bolts; there was no evidence of the brass plate installed in 1955.[citation needed]

Establishing that the rock is part of the United Kingdom and its development as a light beacon facilitated[clarification needed] the incorporation of the island into the District of Harris in the County of Inverness under the Island of Rockall Act 1972. It would have[clarification needed] reinforced the UK Government's claim with regard to seabed rights in the area at the time.[citation needed]

In 1978,

David Kirke, one of its founders, held a cocktail party on the island,[31] allegedly leaving with the plaque.[32]

Former SAS member and survival expert Tom McClean decided to live on the island from 26 May 1985 to 4 July 1985 to affirm the UK's claim to the islet.[33]

Waveland

In 1997, three members of the environmentalist organisation

oil exploration. Greenpeace declared the island to be a "new Global State" (as a spoof micronation) and offered citizenship to anyone willing to take their pledge of allegiance. The British Government's response was to state that "Rockall is British territory. It is part of Scotland and anyone is free to go there and can stay as long as they please"[36] and otherwise ignore them. The 1955 plaque was unscrewed and refixed back to front, and subsequently it disappeared.[37] The micronation continued[dubious – discuss
] after leaving the island until 1999.

Recent visits

In June 2005 the first

Islands on the Air
number EU-189 was issued to Rockall as a result of this activation.

In 2010, it was revealed that the plaque had gone missing. Andy Strangeway, a British adventurer, announced his intention to land on the island and affix a replacement plaque in June 2010.[38] Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, the local authority for Rockall, approved planning permission for the plaque.[39] The 2010 expedition was cancelled, and Strangeway did not replace the plaque.[40][needs update]

In October 2011 a group of amateur radio operators from Belgium travelled by ship to Rockall. Several of them climbed up the rocks and set up a radio station for some hours. They stayed overnight on top of the island. Radio contacts to all over the world were made using HF frequencies under the call sign "MM0RAI/P".[41][42]

In 2013 an occupation of the island by explorer Nick Hancock to raise money for the charity

Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee.[44][45] The weather conditions at the time "were not favourable" according to a Maritime and Coastguard Agency official. Subsequently, Hancock postponed his challenge until 2014.[46] On 5 June 2014 Hancock landed on Rockall to begin his 60-day survival attempt.[47] Despite being forced to cut his 60-day goal short after losing supplies in a storm, Hancock did remain on the island for 45 days, beating McClean's occupancy record by five days.[48][49]

In May 2023 Cam Cameron, a science teacher and former Gordon Highlander, began an attempt to stay 60 days on Rockall to raise funds for military charities. He was accompanied to the rock by a radio operator, Adrian Styles, and Bulgarian mountaineer Emil Bergmann, both of whom planned to stay with him for a week and then leave.[34][50] The group landed on Rockall on 30 May, having sailed from Inverkip on the Firth of Clyde.[51] The attempt ended after 30 days when deteriorating weather conditions meant Cameron had to be rescued by HM Coastguard.[52]

Circumnavigations

The "Round Rockall" sailing race, sponsored by Galway Bay Sailing Club, runs from

2011–12 Volvo Ocean Race around the world.[53]

The 2015–2016 Clipper Round the World Yacht Race race 12 from New York to Derry was extended around Rockall despite previous promises to crew from Sir Robin Knox-Johnston that this would not happen again after the race to Danang[clarification needed].[54] In July, 2022, the 2019–2020 Clipper Round the world race (delayed for 2 years by COVID) was again extended on Leg 8 to go around Rockall before completing the leg at the mouth of the River Foyle in Northern Ireland. The fleet had crossed the Atlantic in record time, and the City docks in Londonderry had no room for the fleet of 11 boats to berth. The race organizers sent the fleet around Rockall in order to extend the leg by approximately one day's sailing time to clear the docks in Londonderry.[citation needed]

In 2017, the Safehaven Marine team led by Frank Kowalski set a world record for the Long Way Round Circumnavigation of Ireland via Rockall island. The Barracuda-style naval patrol, search and rescue vessel, Thunder Child, completed the route in 34 hours, 1 minute, and 47 seconds.

Irish Sailing and the Union Internationale Motonautique
, the world governing board for all powerboat activity.

Geography

Rockall Plateau
on which Rockall is situated

Rockall is one of the few pinnacles of the surrounding

Rockall Trough, itself located within the Rockall Basin (also known as the "Hatton Rockall Basin").[citation needed
]

In 1956 the British scientist

ocean surface waves
.

Rockall is about 25 metres (80 ft) wide and 31 m (102 ft) long at its base[58] and rises sheer to a height of 17.15 m (56 ft 3 in).[20][59][21] It is often washed over by large storm waves, particularly in winter. There is a small ledge of 3.5 by 1.3 m (11 ft 6 in by 4 ft 3 in), known as Hall's Ledge, four metres (13 ft) from the summit on the rock's western face.[60] It is the only named geographical location on the rock.

Large waves breaking over the islet on 11 March 1943, photographed by RAF Coastal Command

The nearest point on land from Rockall is 301.3 kilometres (162.7 nmi), east at the uninhabited Scottish island of

council area of Scotland
.

The exact position of Rockall and the size and shape of the Rockall Bank were first charted in 1831 by Captain A. T. E. Vidal, a Royal Navy surveyor. The first scientific expedition to Rockall was led by Miller Christy in 1896 when the Royal Irish Academy sponsored a study of the flora and fauna.[65] They chartered the Granuaile.[57][66]

A detailed underwater mapping of the area around Rockall undertaken in 2011–2012 by

Marine Scotland showed that Rockall itself is a minor pinnacle, whilst Helen's Reef extends in a sweeping arc of fissures and ridges to the north-west of the islet. Between the islet and Helen's Reef is a deeper trench much used by squid fishermen.[67]

Rockall is located in the pathway of the warming and moderating

maritime climate
without heat or cold extremes.

Geology

Seabed oil survey

Rockall is made of a type of

peralkaline granite that is relatively rich in sodium and potassium. Within this granite are darker bands richer in iron because they contain two iron-sodium silicate minerals called aegirine and riebeckite. The darker bands are a type of granite that geologists have named "rockallite", although use of this term is now discouraged.[68][69]

In 1975, a mineral new to science was discovered in a rock sample from Rockall. The mineral is called bazirite, named after the chemical elements barium and zirconium. Bazirite has the chemical formula BaZrSi3O9.[70]

Rockall forms part of the deeply eroded Rockall Igneous Centre that was formed as part of the North Atlantic Igneous Province.[71] It was formed approximately 52 ± 8 million years ago based on rubidium–strontium dating,[72] as part of the breakup of Laurasia. Greenland and Europe separated and the northeast Atlantic Ocean was formed between them,[68] eventually leaving Rockall as an isolated islet.

Due to its particular geographical position and the similarities with the mythological island described by Plato, it has been speculated[who?] that Rockall could have inspired the mythological island of Atlantis.[73]

The

Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, to conduct a seismic survey of the Rockall Bank and the Hatton Bank in July 2004,[75] as part of the Irish National Seabed Survey.[75]

Ecology

The island's only permanent multicellular inhabitants are

common guillemots
, use the rock for resting in summer, and gannets and guillemots occasionally breed successfully if the summer is calm with no storm waves washing over the rock. In total there have been just over twenty species of seabird and six other animal species observed (including the aforementioned molluscs) on or near the islet.

Cold-water coral biogenic reefs have been identified on the wider Rockall Bank,[76] which are contributing features for the East Rockall Bank and North-West Rockall Bank SACs.[77][78]

Discovery of new species

In December 2013 surveys by

Marine Scotland discovered four new species of animal in the sea around Rockall. These are believed to live in an area where hydrocarbons are released from the sea bed, known as a cold seep. The discovery has raised the issue of restricting some forms of fishery to protect the sea bed.[79]
The species are:

Claims and ownership

For details of the competing sea-bed claims, see Rockall Bank dispute.

Ireland

Róisín
at Rockall conducting routine maritime security patrols 230 nmi (430 km) off the north-west coast of Ireland

Irish claims to Rockall are based on its proximity to the Irish mainland;[80] however, the country has never formally claimed sovereignty over the rock. Although Rockall is closer to the UK coast than to the Irish coast,[1][2] Ireland does not recognise the UK's territorial claim to Rockall, "which would be the basis for a claim to a 12-mile territorial sea".[8][81]

Ireland regards Rockall as irrelevant when determining the boundaries of the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) as the rock is uninhabitable[82][83][84] and in signing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in 1997, the UK has agreed that "Rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf". In 1988, Ireland and the United Kingdom signed an EEZ boundary agreement, ignoring the rock per UNCLOS.[82] With effect from 31 March 2014, the UK and Ireland published EEZ limits which include Rockall within the UK's EEZ.[85][86]

In October 2012, the

LÉ Róisín sailing past Rockall conducting routine maritime security patrols, and claimed that it was exercising Ireland's sovereign rights over the rock.[87]

United Kingdom

Exclusive economic zones of the UK, Ireland, Faroe Islands (Denmark), and Iceland around Rockall

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland claims Rockall along with a 12-nautical-mile-radius (22 km) territorial sea around the islet inside the country's exclusive economic zone (EEZ).[5] The UK also claims "a circle of UK sovereign airspace over the islet of Rockall".[5]

The UK claimed Rockall on 18 September 1955 when "Two Royal Marines and

annexed Rockall to the United Kingdom.[89] In May 2017, declassified documents revealed that the 1955 decision to claim the rock as UK territory was motivated by worries that it could otherwise be used by "hostile agents" to spy on the future South Uist missile testing range.[90]

The UK considers the rock administratively part of the Isle of Harris. A navigational beacon was installed on the island in 1982[91] and the UK declared that no ship would be allowed within a 50-nautical-mile (93 km) radius of the rock.[citation needed] However, in 1988, the United Kingdom and Ireland signed an EEZ boundary agreement for which "the location of Rockall was irrelevant to the determination of the boundary".[82] In 1997, the UK ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which states that "Rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf". This limits territorial sea claims to a 12-nautical-mile (22 km) radius, and therefore allows free passage in waters beyond this. Under the Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999 the area around it was declared to be under the jurisdiction of Scots law rather than English law.

As the rock lies within the United Kingdom's EEZ, the UK has sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring and exploiting, conserving and managing the natural resources of the area, including jurisdiction over the protection and preservation of the marine environment.[85][92]

Early in January 2021, after

Marine Scotland.[93] Since 2021, fishing licences issued by the UK to EU vessels have excluded access to the 12 nautical mile zone around Rockall. In 2023, Irish Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue stated that this action was costing the Irish fishing industry up to €7 million per year.[94][95]

Shipping disasters

ROCKALL – Nautical chart – Atlantic Sea Pilot, 1884

There have been various disasters on the neighbouring Hasselwood Rock and Helen's Reef (the latter having been named in 1830).

In popular culture

  • English poet Michael Roberts published a poem "Rockall" in his 1939 collection, Orion Marches. The poem describes a shipwrecked traveller on the rock.
  • In the 1951 novel The Cruel Sea by Nicholas Monsarrat the island features as the place of the final act of HMS Saltash's war. It is here the ship takes the surrender of two German U-boats on the last day of World War Two in Europe.
  • The 1955 British landing, complete with the trappings such as hoisting the flag, caused a certain amount of popular amusement, with some seeing it as a sort of farcical end to imperial expansion. The satirists Flanders and Swann sang a successful piece entitled "Rockall", playing on the similarity of the word to the vulgar expression 'fuck all', meaning "nothing": "The fleet set sail for Rockall, Rockall, Rockall, To free the isle of Rockall, From fear of foreign foe. We sped across the planet, To find this lump of granite, One rather startled gannet; In fact, we found Rockall."[96]
  • In
    NAAFI
    " in the Goon Show episode of the same name (January 1956).
  • It has been suggested by several critics that Rockall is the rock that forms the setting for William Golding's 1956 novel Pincher Martin.[98]
  • The Master, a 1957 novel by T. H. White, is set inside Rockall.[99]
  • David Frost, when hosting the 1962-1963 BBC satirical TV programme That Was the Week That Was, recited a list of the dwindling British colonial possessions, ending with the words, "... and sweet Rockall."[100]
  • Storm Over Rockall was a 1965 novel by W. Howard Baker, part of a series of novels based on the espionage television series Danger Man.
  • The Icelandic instrumental jazz-funk fusion band Mezzoforte's track Rockall was a minor hit in Europe in 1983 and was used as a signature tune by several European radio chart shows.[101][102]
  • The Irish folk group The Wolfe Tones made Rockall the subject of their 1976 song "Rock on, Rockall", which asserted an Irish claim to the island.[103][104]
  • ‘Ether’, the opening track of the English post-punk band Gang of Four's 1979 debut album, Entertainment!, features the satirical line "There may be oil under Rockall". The bulk of the song deals with the then ongoing Troubles in Northern Ireland and is critical of British actions there; the line alludes anticlimactically to the dispute between Ireland and the UK over Rockall.
  • A club, The Rockall Club, has been established for people who have landed there.[105]
  • In series 2, episode 2, of the television series The Ambassador, "Vacant Possession" (first broadcast on 25 April 1999), an Irish protester lands on Rockall and claims it for his nation, sparking a diplomatic row.
  • BBC Choice broadcast two series of a topical panel show titled Good Evening Rockall[106] in which panellists put forward events to be included in a news bulletin ostensibly targeting the island. Sue Perkins hosted the second series.
  • The duo and solo project of Runrig songwriters Calum and Rory MacDonald is called The Band from Rockall.
  • Rockall is the only island claimed by Ireland that is not included on the course of the Round Ireland Yacht Race being excluded since the race's inception in 1980. [107]

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Google Earth. Rockall ETRS89 57°35'46.695"N 13°41'14.308"W to Gob a' Ghaill, Soay, St Kilda at approximately WGS84 57°49'40.8"N 8°38'59.4"W is approximately 301.3 kilometres (187.2 statute miles; 162.7 nautical miles).
  2. ^ a b c Google Earth. Rockall ETRS89 57°35'46.695"N 13°41'14.308"W to Tory Island at approximately WGS84 55°16'29.73"N 8°15'00.92"W is approximately 423.2 kilometres (263.0 statute miles; 228.5 nautical miles).
  3. ^ Follett, Christopher (28 November 2016). "Watch out for the big rock: Remembering Denmark's greatest maritime disaster". cphpost.dk. Copenhagen Post Online. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b c "Foreign & Commonwealth Office Response to Freedom of Information request regarding Rockall". Whatdotheyknow.com. 8 March 2012.
  6. ^ Clive R. Symmons "Ireland and the Rockall Dispute: An Analysis of Recent Developments" contained in IBRU Boundary and Security Bulletin Spring 1998 at page 81 "Ireland has... even rejected imposition of a 12-mile fishery zone (or territorial sea) around the rock."
  7. ^ Spring, Dick (25 September 1996). "Dáil Éireann debate: Written Answers. – UN Convention on the Law of the Sea". At present the United Kingdom claims a 12-mile territorial sea around Rockall, a claim which — depending as it does on jurisdiction over the rock – Ireland has likewise not accepted.
  8. ^ a b c Written answers, Dublin: Oireachtas, retrieved 29 January 2018
  9. ^ McClafferty, Enda (13 June 2019). "Fishing row 'political stunt' by SNP". BBC News.
  10. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 May 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. ^ Coates (1990) pp. 49–54, esp. 51-2.
  12. ^ Keay and Keay (1994) p. 817.
  13. ^ "Sgeir" ceantar.org. Retrieved 18 January 2008.
  14. ^ "Rocail" ceantar.org. Retrieved 18 January 2008.
  15. ^ a b Martin, Martin (1703). A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland Circa 1695. Archived from the original on 13 March 2007.
  16. ^ Mac an Tàilleir, Iain (2003) Ainmean-àite/Placenames. (pdf) Pàrlamaid na h-Alba. Retrieved 26 August 2012. p. 101
  17. ^ "Lough Neagh Heritage – Culture". 22 September 2013. Archived from the original on 22 September 2013. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  18. ^ Cove, Connolly (23 November 2017). "The Legend of Finn McCool and the Isle of Man | Connolly Cove". Retrieved 4 January 2022.
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  20. ^ a b The Rockall Club website's Facts page. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  21. ^ a b Stornoway Gazette Archived 18 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine. 8 October 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  22. British Broadcasting Corporation
    .
  23. ^ "Island Of Rockall Act 1972" (PDF). legislation.gov.uk. 10 February 1972.
  24. ^ "The Guardian – Record occupation of Rockall". Theguardian.com. 26 March 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  25. ^ Fisher, James (1957). Rockall. The Country Book Club. pp. 23–35.
  26. ^ "On This Day: 1955 – Britain claims Rockall". BBC News. 21 September 1955. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  27. ^ "On this day 18 September 1955". Fleet Air Arm Officers' Association. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  28. ^ "Ondřej Daněk "Rockall" 2009" (PDF). Dokufunk.org.
  29. ^ "Report on Operational Top Hat government expedition to Rockall in 1970 [sic]" (PDF). Gov.uk.
  30. ^ "Timeline". The Rockall Club. 2015. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  31. ^ Llewellyn-Smith, Julia (6 June 2004). "An endangered species". Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  32. ^ Butterfield, David (29 February 2020). "Notes on...Rockall". The Spectator. London. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  33. ^ "Written Answers – Rockall Island". Dáil Éireann. 358. 22 May 1985. Archived from the original on 18 July 2006. Retrieved 1 August 2007.
  34. ^ a b "Army veteran aims to set new world record for longest stay on Rockall". BBC News. 26 May 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  35. ISBN 0-9529748-1-9
  36. ^ "A hard place for a protest as invaders raise the flag on Rockall". The Independent. 12 June 1997.
  37. ^ John Vidal (January 2011). "'Hello Mum, I'm on Rockall': The £100bn piece of rock". The Guardian.
  38. ^ "Rockall bid – to erect Queen's plaque". Letterkenny Post. 25 February 2010. Archived from the original on 19 April 2010. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
  39. ^ "BBC article on 2010 planning permission". BBC News. 12 May 2010. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  40. ^ "Island Man News". Andy Strangeway. 20 July 2010. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
  41. ^ "Belgian radio enthusiasts make rockfall on Rockall". BBC News. 1 October 2011. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  42. ^ "2011 Rockall DXpedition (DVD) – Swindon & District Amateur Radio Club". Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  43. ^ "Help for Heroes - the Rockall Solo Endurance Expedition". Archived from the original on 29 January 2013. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  44. ^ Severin Carrell, Scotland correspondent (31 May 2013). "Rockall adventurer fails in first attempt to land on remote Atlantic islet | UK news | guardian.co.uk". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  45. ^ "Rockall adventurer Nick Hancock bids to set survival record" (Video). YouTube video from The World News Channel 7. 28 May 2013. Archived from the original on 11 December 2021.
  46. ^ Severin Carrell, Scotland correspondent (1 June 2013). "Rockall occupation bid postponed until 2014 after weather prevents landing | UK news". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
  47. ^ "Ratho adventurer Nick Hancock begins Rockall solo bid". Bbc.com. 5 June 2014.
  48. ^ "Rockall". Scotland.gov.
  49. ^ Nick Hancock sets world records on Rockall, Grindtv; accessed 18 July 2014.
  50. ^ Carrell, Severin (21 May 2023). "Sixty days on a ledge in the Atlantic: teacher aims to break Rockall record". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
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Bibliography

Further reading

External links

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