Rockall () is an uninhabitable granite

islet An islet is a very small, often unnamed island. Most definitions are not precise, but some suggest that an islet has little or no vegetation and cannot support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/or hard coral; may be permanen ...

situated in the North

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. The

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

claims that Rockall lies within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and is part of its territory, but this claim is not recognised by

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It and the nearby skerries of Hasselwood Rock and Helen's Reef are the only emergent parts of the

Rockall Plateau The Rockall Trough ( gd, Clais Sgeir Rocail) is a deep-water bathymetric feature to the northwest of Scotland and Ireland, running roughly from southwest to northeast, flanked on the north by the Rockall Plateau and to the south by the Porcu ...

. The rock was formed by

magmatism Magmatism is the emplacement of magma within and at the surface of the outer layers of a terrestrial planet, which solidifies as igneous rocks. It does so through magmatic activity or igneous activity, the production, intrusion and extrusion of ...

as part of the

North Atlantic Igneous Province The North Atlantic Igneous Province (NAIP) is a large igneous province in the North Atlantic, centered on Iceland. In the Paleogene, the province formed the Thulean Plateau, a large basaltic lava plain, which extended over at least in area and i ...

during the Paleogene. Rockall's approximate distances from the closest islands in each direction are as follows: It is west of Soay,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

; northwest of

Tory Island Tory Island, or simply Tory (officially known by its Irish name ''Toraigh''),Toraigh/Tory Island

; and south of

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

. The nearest permanently inhabited place is

North Uist North Uist ( gd, Uibhist a Tuath; sco, North Uise) is an island and community in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. Etymology In Donald Munro's ''A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland Called Hybrides'' of 1549, North Uist, Benbecula and ...

, an island in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, to the east. 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 extended EEZ based on Rockall, as it has ratified the

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea Treaty, is an international agreement that establishes a legal framework for all marine and maritime activities. , 167 c ...

(UNCLOS), which says that "rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf". However, such features are entitled to a

territorial sea The term territorial waters is sometimes used informally to refer to any area of water over which a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and poten ...

extending . Ireland's position is that Rockall does not even generate a 12-nautical-mile territorial sea for the United Kingdom owing to the UK's uncertain title to Rockall. Ireland does not recognize the UK's claim, although it has never sought to claim sovereignty of Rockall for itself. The consistent position of successive 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.

Etymology

The origin and meaning of the islet's name ''Rockall'' is uncertain. The

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well ...

name for the islet, , may derive from an

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

name that may contain the element , meaning 'mountain'. It has also been suggested that the name is from the Norse , meaning 'foaming sea', and , meaning 'bald head'—a word which appears in other placenames in Scandinavian-speaking areas. Another idea is that it derives from the Gaelic , meaning '

skerry A skerry is a small rocky island, or islet, usually too small for human habitation. It may simply be a rocky reef. A skerry can also be called a low sea stack. A skerry may have vegetative life such as moss and small, hardy grasses. They ar ...

of roaring' or 'sea rock of roaring' (although can also be translated as 'tearing' or 'ripping'). The Dutch mapmakers

Petrus Plancius Petrus Plancius (; 1552 – 15 May 1622) was a Dutch-Flemish astronomer, cartographer and clergyman. He was born as Pieter Platevoet in Dranouter, now in Heuvelland, West Flanders. He studied theology in Germany and England. At the age of 24 he ...

and , show an island called ''Rookol'' northwest of Ireland on their ''Map of New France and the Northern Atlantic Ocean'' (Amsterdam, ). The first literary reference to the island, which is called ''Rokol'', is found in

Martin Martin Martin Martin (Scottish Gaelic: Màrtainn MacGilleMhàrtainn) (-9 October 1718) was a Scottish writer best known for his work '' A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland'' (1703; second edition 1716). This book is particularly noted for ...

's ''A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland'', published in 1703. This book gives an account of a voyage to the

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Arc ...

of St Kilda, and Martin states: "... and from it lies Rokol, a small rock to the westward of St Kilda; the inhabitants of this place call it '' Rokabarra''." The name 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: "". ('When Rocabarra returns, the world will likely come to be destroyed'). Rockall's name has also been used in

Irish mythology Irish mythology is the body of myths native to the island of Ireland. It was originally passed down orally in the prehistoric era, being part of ancient Celtic religion. Many myths were later written down in the early medieval era by Ch ...

; one story describes how legendary giant

Fionn mac Cumhaill Fionn mac Cumhaill ( ; Old and mga, Find or ''mac Cumail'' or ''mac Umaill''), often anglicized Finn McCool or MacCool, is a hero in Irish mythology, as well as in later Scottish and Manx folklore. He is leader of the ''Fianna'' bands of y ...

(Finn McCool) scooped up a chunk of Ireland to fling at a Scottish rival. It instead missed and landed in the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Ce ...

– the pebble left behind formed Rockall, while the clump became the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

and the void left behind filled with water and eventually became Lough Neagh.

History

The rock has been noted in written records since the late 16th century. In the 20th century, its location became relevant due to potential oil and fishing rights that might accrue to a nation recognized as having a legitimate claim to it. In 1955 the British landed on Rockall and claimed it for the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom formally annexed the islet in 1972. According to Ian Mitchell, Rockall was ''

terra nullius ''Terra nullius'' (, plural ''terrae nullius'') is a Latin expression meaning " nobody's land". It was a principle sometimes used in international law to justify claims that territory may be acquired by a state's occupation of it. : : ...

'' (owned by no one) until the 1955 British claim was made. Rockall gives its name to one of the sea areas named in the

shipping forecast The Shipping Forecast is a BBC Radio broadcast of weather reports and forecasts for the seas around the coasts of the British Isles. It is produced by the Met Office and broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. ...

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, and the longest known continuous occupation is 45 days (achieved in 2014 by a solo person). 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" (however only twelve people have landed on the moon, so while possibly true at the time, it is no longer correct.)

Recorded visits to Rockall

Rockall Basil Hall landing from HMS Endymion 1811

The earliest recorded date of landing on the island is often given as 8 July 1810, when a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

officer named

Basil Hall Basil Hall (31 December 1788 – 11 September 1844) was a British naval officer from Scotland, a traveller, and an author. He was the second son of Sir James Hall, 4th Baronet, an eminent man of science. Biography Although his family home was ...

led a small landing party from the frigate 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. 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 was by a Mr Johns of HMS ''Porcupine'' whilst the ship was on a mission, (between June and August 1862), to make a survey of the sea bed prior to the laying of a

transatlantic telegraph cable Transatlantic telegraph cables were undersea cables running under the Atlantic Ocean for telegraph communications. Telegraphy is now an obsolete form of communication, and the cables have long since been decommissioned, but telephone and data a ...

. Johns managed to gain foothold on the island, but failed to reach the summit. Rockall Union flag hoisted 1955

On 18 September 1955, Rockall was annexed by the British Crown when

Lieutenant-Commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

Desmond Scott RN, Sergeant Brian Peel RM,

Corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non- ...

AA Fraser RM, and James Fisher (a civilian naturalist and former Royal Marine), were winched onto the island by a Royal Navy helicopter from (coincidentally named after the man who first charted the island). The annexation of Rockall was announced by the Admiralty on 21 September 1955. The expedition team cemented in a brass plaque on Hall's Ledge and hoisted the

Union Flag The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

to stake the UK's claim. The inscription on the plaque read: It was the final territorial expansion of the British empire. The initial incentive for the annexation was the test-firing of the UK's first guided

nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...

, 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 The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

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 Clan Mackay ( ; gd, Clann Mhic Aoidh ) is an ancient and once-powerful Highland Scottish clan from the far North of the Scottish Highlands, but with roots in the old Kingdom of Moray. They supported Robert the Bruce during the Wars of Scottish ...

, 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 protests, which were soon forgotten. In 1971, 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 aegerine 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. Establishing that the rock is part of the United Kingdom and its development as a light beacon facilitated the incorporation of the island into the District of Harris in the County of Inverness in the Island of Rockall Act 1972 and reinforced the UK Government's position with regard to seabed rights in the area. In 1978, eight members of the Dangerous Sports Club, including David Kirke, one of its founders, held a cocktail party on the island, allegedly leaving with the plaque. Former SAS member and

survival Survival, or the act of surviving, is the propensity of something to continue existing, particularly when this is done despite conditions that might kill or destroy it. The concept can be applied to humans and other living things (or, hypotheti ...

expert

Tom McClean Tom McClean is a veteran of both the Parachute Regiment and the SAS and is a survival expert who lived on the island of Rockall from 26 May to 4 July 1985 to affirm Britain's claim to it; this is the third longest human occupancy of the isl ...

lived on the island from 26 May 1985 to 4 July 1985 to affirm the UK's claim to the islet. In 1997, the environmentalist organisation Greenpeace occupied the islet for a short time, calling it Waveland, to protest against

oil exploration Hydrocarbon exploration (or oil and gas exploration) is the search by petroleum geologists and geophysicists for deposits of hydrocarbons, particularly petroleum and natural gas, in the Earth using petroleum geology. Exploration methods Vis ...

. Greenpeace declared the island to be a "new Global State" (as a spoof

micronation A micronation is a political entity whose members claim that they belong to an independent nation or sovereign state, but which lacks legal recognition by world governments or major international organizations. Micronations are classified ...

) 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" and otherwise ignore them. During his one night on Rockall, Greenpeace protester and ''Guardian'' journalist John Vidal unscrewed the 1955 plaque and re-fixed it back-to-front. Micronation continued after leaving the island until 1999. In June 2005 the first amateur radio (ham radio) activation of Rockall took place when the club station MS0IRC/P was set up and operated for a few hours on HF frequencies before they had to close down due to approaching bad weather. The IOTA number EU-189 was issued to Rockall as a result of this activation. In 2010, it was revealed that the plaque had gone missing. An Englishman,

Andy Strangeway Andy Strangeway (born 1965 in Londesborough, East Riding of Yorkshire) is a decorator and adventurer from the Yorkshire Wolds. He has landed and slept on all 162 of Scotland's islands of 100 acres (40 hectares) and above. He completed this chal ...

, announced his intention to land on the island and affix a replacement plaque in June 2010. The Western Isles Council have approved planning permission for the plaque. The 2010 expedition was cancelled, but Strangeway still intends to replace the plaque. In October 2011 a group of amateur radio (ham 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". In 2013 an occupation of the island by explorer Nick Hancock to raise money for the charity

Help for Heroes Help for Heroes (H4H) is a British charity which provides lifelong recovery support to British Armed Forces service personnel who have been wounded or injured in the line of duty, and to their families, originally only since 11 September 2001, th ...

was planned. The challenge was to land on Rockall and survive solo for 60 days. On 31 May 2013, Hancock, and a TV crew from BBC's ''

The One Show ''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weeknights at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Jermaine Jenas, and Ronan K ...

'', sailed to the islet aboard ''Orca III'', and he made his first unsuccessful attempt to land on the islet. The weather conditions at the time "were not favourable" according to a Maritime and Coastguard Agency official. Subsequently, Hancock postponed his challenge until 2014. On 5 June 2014 Hancock landed on Rockall to begin his 60-day survival. 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. The "Round Rockall" sailing race, sponsored by Galway Bay Sailing Club, runs from

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city on ...

, Ireland, around Rockall and back. It was held in 2012 to coincide with the finish of the 2011–12 Volvo Ocean Race around the world. The 2015–2016

Clipper Round the World Yacht Race The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race is a biennial race that takes paying amateur crews on one or more legs of a circumnavigation of the globe in 11 specially-designed identical yachts owned by Clipper Ventures. Professional skippers and addi ...

race 12 from New York to Derry was extended around Rockall despite previous promises to crew from Sir

Robin Knox-Johnston Sir William Robert Patrick Knox-Johnston (born 17 March 1939) is a British sailor. In 1969, he became the first person to perform a single-handed non-stop circumnavigation of the globe. Along with Sir Peter Blake, he won the second Jules Ve ...

that this would not happen again after the race to Danang. 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 Baracuda-style naval patrol, search and rescue vessel, ''Thunder Child'', completed the route in 34 hours, 1 minute, and 47 seconds. Set in an anti-clockwise direction, the new record – the first of its kind – is now subject to ratification by Irish Sailing and the

Union Internationale Motonautique The Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM) is the international governing body of powerboating, based in the Principality of Monaco. It was founded in 1922, in Belgium, as the Union Internationale du Yachting Automobile. History Member nations ...

, the world governing board for all powerboat activity. During Queen Elizabeth II's platinum jubilee celebrations in June 2022, Dr. Chris Grieco and Campbell Cameron had intended to live on the rock for one week to raise £1 million for the Children's Hospice South West and The

charity. The trip was also being supported by Nick Hancock, who is the world record holder for occupation of the Rock. The attempt at Rockall was cancelled due to the unavailability of a vessel. A new team including Campbell Cameron VR RNR FRGS and Chris Thrall, a former Royal Marine Commando, is planned to go ahead in June 2023, with the goal of beating the world record currently held by Nick Hancock FRGS.

Geography

Rockall is one of the few pinnacles of the surrounding Helen's Reef; it is located west of the uninhabited islet of Soay, St Kilda, Scotland, and northwest of

Tory Island Tory Island, or simply Tory (officially known by its Irish name ''Toraigh''),Toraigh/Tory Island

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconn ...

, Ireland. Its location was precisely determined by Nick Hancock during his 2014 expedition. The surrounding elevated seabed is called the

Rockall Bank Rockall () is an uninhabitable granite islet situated in the North Atlantic Ocean. The United Kingdom claims that Rockall lies within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and is part of its territory, but this claim is not recognised by Ireland. ...

, lying directly south from an area known as the Rockall Plateau. It is separated from the Outer Hebrides by the

Rockall Trough The Rockall Trough ( gd, Clais Sgeir Rocail) is a deep-water bathymetric feature to the northwest of Scotland and Ireland, running roughly from southwest to northeast, flanked on the north by the Rockall Plateau and to the south by the Porc ...

, itself located within the Rockall Basin (also known as the "Hatton Rockall Basin"). In 1956 the British scientist James Fisher referred to the island as "the most isolated small rock in the oceans of the world". The neighbouring Hasselwood Rock and several other pinnacles of the surrounding Helen's Reef are smaller, at half the size of Rockall or less, and equally remote, but those formations are legally not islands or points on land, as they are often submerged completely, only revealed momentarily above certain types of

ocean surface wave In fluid dynamics, a wind wave, water wave, or wind-generated water wave, is a surface wave that occurs on the free surface of bodies of water as a result from the wind blowing over the water surface. The contact distance in the direction o ...

s. Rockall is about wide and long at its base and rises sheer to a height of . It is often washed over by large storm waves, particularly in winter. There is a small ledge of , known as Hall's Ledge, from the summit on the rock's western face. It is the only named geographical location on the rock. Rockall wave March 1943

The nearest point on land from Rockall is , east at the uninhabited Scottish island of Soay in the St Kilda archipelago. The nearest inhabited area lies east at

Hirta Hirta ( gd, Hiort) is the largest island in the St Kilda archipelago, on the western edge of Scotland. The names (in Scottish Gaelic) and ''Hirta'' (historically in English) have also been applied to the entire archipelago. Now without a perman ...

, the largest island in the St. Kilda group, which is populated intermittently at a single military base. The nearest permanently inhabited settlement is west of the headland of Aird an Rùnair, near the crofting township of Hogha Gearraidh on the island of

at . North Uist is part of '' Na h-Eileanan Siar'' council area of Scotland. The exact position of Rockall and the size and shape of the Rockall Bank was first charted in 1831 by Captain A. T. E. Vidal, a

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. They chartered the ''Granuaile''. A detailed underwater mapping of the area around Rockall undertaken in 2011–2012 by

Marine Scotland The Marine Scotland Directorate ( gd, Cùisean Mara na h-Alba) is a directorate of the Scottish Government. Marine Scotland manages Scotland's seas and freshwater fisheries along with delivery partners NatureScot and the Scottish Environmen ...

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. Rockall is located in the pathway of the warming and moderating Gulf Stream. Although the rock does not sustain any weather station, the isolated nature of the setting dictates an extremely

maritime climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...

without heat or cold extremes.

Geology

Rockall is made of a type of

peralkaline Peralkaline rocks include those igneous rocks which have a deficiency of aluminium such that sodium and potassium are in excess of that needed for feldspar. The presence of aegerine (sodium pyroxene) and riebeckite (sodium amphibole) are indicati ...

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

that is relatively rich in

sodium Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na (from Latin ''natrium'') and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 of the periodic table. Its only stable ...

and

potassium Potassium is the chemical element with the symbol K (from Neo-Latin ''kalium'') and atomic number19. Potassium is a silvery-white metal that is soft enough to be cut with a knife with little force. Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmosph ...

. Within this granite are darker bands richer in iron because they contain two iron-sodium silicate minerals called

aegirine Aegirine is a member of the clino pyroxene group of inosilicate minerals. Aegirine is the sodium endmember of the aegirine-augite series. Aegirine has the chemical formula Na Fe Si2 O6 in which the iron is present as Fe3+. In the aegirine-augit ...

and

riebeckite Riebeckite is a sodium-rich member of the amphibole group of silicate minerals, chemical formula Na2(Fe2+3Fe3+2)Si8O22(OH)2. It forms a solid solution series with magnesioriebeckite. It crystallizes in the monoclinic system, usually as long prisma ...

. The darker bands are a type of granite that geologists have named "rockallite", although use of this term is now discouraged. 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 Zirconium is a chemical element with the symbol Zr and atomic number 40. The name ''zirconium'' is taken from the name of the mineral zircon, the most important source of zirconium. The word is related to Persian '' zargun'' (zircon; ''zar-gun'' ...

. Bazirite has the chemical composition BaZrSi₃O₉. Rockall forms part of the deeply eroded Rockall Igneous Centre that was formed as part of the

. It was formed approximately 52 ± 8 million years ago based on

rubidium–strontium dating The rubidium-strontium dating method is a radiometric dating technique, used by scientists to determine the age of rocks and minerals from their content of specific isotopes of rubidium (87Rb) and strontium (87Sr, 86Sr). One of the two naturally ...

, as part of the breakup of Laurasia. Greenland and Europe separated and the northeast Atlantic Ocean was formed between them, eventually leaving Rockall as an isolated islet. The RV ''Celtic Explorer'' surveyed the Rockall Bank in 2003. The Irish Light Vessel ''Granuaile'' (the same name as the steamer on the

RIA A ria (; gl, ría) is a coastal inlet formed by the partial submergence of an unglaciated river valley. It is a drowned river valley that remains open to the sea. Definitions Typically rias have a dendritic, treelike outline although they ca ...

1896 botany survey) was chartered by the

Geological Survey of Ireland Geological Survey Ireland or Geological Survey of IrelandS.I. No. 300/2002 - Communications, Energy and Geological Survey of Ireland (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2002 ( ga, Suirbhéireacht Gheolaíochta ...

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

Ecology

The island's only permanent macro-organism inhabitants are common periwinkles and other marine molluscs. Small numbers of seabirds, mainly

fulmar The fulmars are tubenosed seabirds of the family Procellariidae. The family consists of two extant species and two extinct fossil species from the Miocene. Fulmars superficially resemble gulls, but are readily distinguished by their flight on ...

northern gannet The northern gannet (''Morus bassanus'') is a seabird, the largest species of the gannet family, Sulidae. It is native to the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean, breeding in Western Europe and Northeastern North America. It is the largest seabird in t ...

s, black-legged kittiwakes, and

common guillemot The common murre or common guillemot (''Uria aalge'') is a large auk. It has a circumpolar distribution, occurring in low-Arctic and boreal waters in the North Atlantic and North Pacific. It spends most of its time at sea, only coming to land to ...

s, 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 Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and ...

biogenic reefs have been identified on the wider Rockall Bank, which are contributing features for the East Rockall Bank and North-West Rockall Bank SACs.

Discovery of new species

In December 2013 surveys by

discovered four new species of animals 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 A cold seep (sometimes called a cold vent) is an area of the ocean floor where hydrogen sulfide, methane and other hydrocarbon-rich fluid seepage occurs, often in the form of a brine pool. ''Cold'' does not mean that the temperature of the see ...

. The discovery has raised the issue of restricting some forms of fishery to protect the sea bed. The species are: * '' Volutopsius scotiae'' Frussen, McKay & Drewery, 2013 – a sea snail about long * '' Thyasira scotiana'' Zelaya, 2009 – a

clam Clam is a common name for several kinds of bivalve molluscs. The word is often applied only to those that are edible and live as infauna, spending most of their lives halfway buried in the sand of the seafloor or riverbeds. Clams have two shel ...

* '' Isorropodon mackayi'' – a

in the order Veneroida * '' Antonbruunia sociabilis'' sp. – a

marine worm Any worm that lives in a marine environment is considered a marine worm. Marine worms are found in several different phyla, including the Platyhelminthes, Nematoda, Annelida (segmented worms), Chaetognatha, Hemichordata, and Phoronida. For a ...

in the order

Phyllodocida Phyllodocida is an order of polychaete worms in the subclass Aciculata. These worms are mostly marine, though some are found in brackish water. Most are active benthic creatures, moving over the surface or burrowing in sediments, or living in c ...

Claims and ownership

Ireland

Irish claims to Rockall are based on its proximity to the Irish mainland; however, the country has never formally claimed sovereignty over the rock. Although Rockall is closer to the UK coast than to the Irish coast, 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". Ireland regards Rockall as irrelevant when determining the boundaries of the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) as the rock is uninhabitable 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. With effect from 31 March 2014, the UK and Ireland published EEZ limits which include Rockall within the UK's EEZ. In October 2012, the '' Irish Independent'' published a picture of the

Irish Navy The Naval Service ( ga, An tSeirbhís Chabhlaigh) is the maritime component of the Defence Forces of Ireland and is one of the three branches of the Irish Defence Forces. Its base is in Haulbowline, County Cork. Though preceded by earlier m ...

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

United Kingdom

The UK claims Rockall along with a territorial sea around the islet inside the country's exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The UK also claims "a circle of UK sovereign airspace over the islet of Rockall". The UK claimed Rockall on 18 September 1955 when "Two Royal Marines and a civilian naturalist, led by Royal Navy officer Lieutenant Commander Desmond Scott, raised a Union flag on the islet and cemented a plaque into the rock". Prior to this Rockall was legally ''

''. In 1972, the British Island of Rockall Act formally annexed Rockall to the United Kingdom. The UK considers the rock administratively part of the Isle of

Harris Harris may refer to: Places Canada * Harris, Ontario * Northland Pyrite Mine (also known as Harris Mine) * Harris, Saskatchewan * Rural Municipality of Harris No. 316, Saskatchewan Scotland * Harris, Outer Hebrides (sometimes called the Isle of ...

and, under the Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999 a large sea area around it was declared to be under the

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. J ...

of Scots law. A navigational beacon was installed on the island in 1982 and the UK declared that no ship would be allowed within a radius of the rock. However, in 1997, the UK ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), limiting territorial sea claims to a radius, and therefore allowing free passage in waters beyond this. 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". In 1997, the UK ratified 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". 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. 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 South Uist ( gd, Uibhist a Deas, ; sco, Sooth Uist) is the second-largest island of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland. At the 2011 census, it had a usually resident population of 1,754: a decrease of 64 since 2001. The island, in common with the ...

missile testing range. Early in January 2021, after the UK left the European Union, the ''Northern Celt'', an Irish fishing boat based out of

Greencastle, County Donegal Greencastle () is a commercial fishing port located in the north-east of the Inishowen Peninsula on the north coast of County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland. The port is on the western shores of Lough Foyle. Nowadays, given the decline in the fi ...

, was ordered to leave the 12-nautical-mile zone around Rockall by officers of

Shipping disasters

There have been various disasters on the neighbouring Hasselwood Rock and Helen's Reef (the latter was named in 1830). * 1686 – a Spanish, French, or Spanish-French ship ran aground around Rockall. Several men of the crew, Spanish and French, were able to reach St. Kilda in a

pinnace Pinnace may refer to: * Pinnace (ship's boat), a small vessel used as a tender to larger vessels among other things * Full-rigged pinnace The full-rigged pinnace was the larger of two types of vessel called a pinnace in use from the sixteenth c ...

and save their lives. Some details of this event were recounted by

in his ''A late voyage to St. Kilda'', published in 1698. The ship was perhaps a fishing vessel based in the Bay of Biscay and bound for North Atlantic

cod Cod is the common name for the demersal fish genus '' Gadus'', belonging to the family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gadus'' is commonly not call ...

fisheries. * 1812 – a survey vessel ''Leonidas'' foundered on Helen's Reef. * 1824 – Brigantine ''Helen'' of Dundee, bound for

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, foundered on Helen's Reef with fatalities. * 1904 – Danish ship SS ''Norge'' foundered on Hasselwood Rock with the loss of nearly all its 750 passengers. This led to a proposal by D. & C. Stevenson for an unattended lightship to be moored close to the rock.

In popular culture

* English poet Michael Roberts published a poem "Rockall" in his 1939 collection, ''Orion Marches''. The poem describes a shipwrecked traveler on the rock. * In the 1951 novel '' The Cruel Sea'' by

Nicholas Monsarrat Lieutenant Commander Nicholas John Turney Monsarrat FRSL RNVR (22 March 19108 August 1979) was a British novelist known for his sea stories, particularly '' The Cruel Sea'' (1951) and ''Three Corvettes'' (1942–45), but perhaps known best i ...

, 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 the 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 Flanders and Swann were a British comedy duo. Lyricist, actor and singer Michael Flanders (1922–1975) and composer and pianist Donald Swann (1923–1994) collaborated in writing and performing comic songs. They first worked together in a scho ...

sang a successful piece titled "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.'' * In ''

The Goon Show ''The Goon Show'' is a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme. The first series, broadcast from 28 May to 20 September 19 ...

'' episode "Napoleon's Piano" (first broadcast October 1955), Bluebottle lands on the piano as it is floating in the English Channel, and cements a brass plate to it in the belief that it is Rockall. Rockall was the launching site for the prototype "Jet propelled guided

NAAFI The Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes (NAAFI ) is a company created by the British government on 9 December 1920 to run recreational establishments needed by the British Armed Forces, and to sell goods to servicemen and their families. It runs ...

" in the ''Goon Show'' episode of the same name (January 1956). * It has been suggested by several critics that Rockall is the rock which forms the setting for William Golding's 1956 novel '' Pincher Martin''. * '' The Master'', a 1957 novel by T. H. White, is set inside Rockall. * David Frost, when hosting the 1962-1963 BBC satirical TV programme ''

That Was the Week That Was ''That Was the Week That Was'', informally ''TWTWTW'' or ''TW3'', is a satirical television comedy programme that aired on BBC Television in 1962 and 1963. It was devised, produced, and directed by Ned Sherrin and Jack (aka John) Duncan, and pr ...

'', recited a list of the dwindling British colonial possessions, ending with the words, "... and sweet Rockall." * ''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 ''Danger Man'' (retitled ''Secret Agent'' in the United States for the revived series, and ''Destination Danger'' and ''John Drake'' in other overseas markets) is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again b ...

''. * 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. * The Irish folk group

The Wolfe Tones The Wolfe Tones are an Irish rebel music band that incorporate Irish traditional music in their songs. Formed in 1963, they take their name from Theobald Wolfe Tone, one of the leaders of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, with the double meaning of ...

made Rockall the subject of their 1976 song "Rock on, Rockall" which asserted an Irish claim to the island. * "Ether", the opening track of the English post-punk band Gang of Four's 1979 debut album, ''

Entertainment! ''Entertainment!'' is the debut album by English post-punk band Gang of Four. It was released in September 1979 through EMI Records internationally and Warner Bros. Records in North America. Stylistically, it draws heavily on punk rock but als ...

'', features the satirical line "There may be oil under Rockall". The bulk of the song deals with the then-ongoing

Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an " ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

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. * In series 2, episode 2 of the television series '' The Ambassador'', "Vacant Possession" (first broadcast 25 Apr 1999), an Irish protestor lands on Rockall and claims it for his nation, sparking a diplomatic row. *

BBC Choice BBC Choice was a British digital television channel which was owned by the BBC and was launched on 23 September 1998. It was the first British TV channel to broadcast exclusively in digital format, as well as the BBC's second non-analogue-terres ...

broadcast two series of a topical panel show titled ''Good Evening Rockall'' 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.

References

Notes Bibliography * Coates, Richard (1990) ''The place-names of St Kilda''. Lewiston, etc.: Edwin Mellen Press. . * Harvie-Brown, J. A. & Buckley, T. E. (1889) ''A Vertebrate Fauna of the Outer Hebrides.'' Edinburgh. David Douglas. * Haswell-Smith, Hamish (2004) ''The Scottish Islands''. Edinburgh. Canongate * Keay, J., and Keay, J. (1994) ''Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland''. London. HarperCollins * Maclean, Charles (1977) ''Island on the Edge of the World: the Story of St. Kilda'', Edinburgh, Canongate * Martin, Martin (1703)
A Voyage to St. Kilda
in ''A Description of The Western Islands of Scotland''. Appin Regiment/Appin Historical Society. Retrieved 16 September 2008. * *

External links

Rockall.name
nbsp;– a complex website about the islet available in both English and Czech
RockallIsland.co.uk
nbsp;– a website detailing the MSØIRC/p amateur radio expedition of 16 June 2005
Rockall2011.com
nbsp;– a website advocating a charitable fund for soldiers based on a pending expedition to Rockall in 2011
Rockall.be
nbsp;– a website on the MMØRAI/p amateur radio expedition to Rockall in 2011
Waveland.org
– official website of the former micronation Waveland based on Rockall
1955: Britain claims Rockall
nbsp;– "''On This Day''" story of British claim to Rockall from BBC's official website

Icelandic Ministry of Foreign Affairs map
showing all parties' claims to the continental shelf around Rockall.

Article in The Herald Scotland about the next attempt

Article in the Press and Journal about the Rockall attempt in 2022
{{Authority control Geological type localities Greenpeace campaigns Individual rocks Islands of the North Atlantic Ocean Seabird colonies Shipping Forecast areas Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Western Isles South Skerries of Scotland Stacks of the United Kingdom Uninhabited islands of the Outer Hebrides Volcanoes of Europe