Rocabarra or Rocabarraigh is a

phantom island A phantom island is a purported island which was included on maps for a period of time, but was later found not to exist. They usually originate from the reports of early sailors exploring new regions, and are commonly the result of navigati ...

or rock in

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

myth, which is supposed to appear three times, the last 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/ruined") The name has also been used to refer to

Rockall Rockall () is a high, uninhabitable granite islet in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is west of Soay, St Kilda, Scotland; northwest of Tory Island, Ireland; and south of Iceland. The nearest permanently inhabited place is North Uist, east in ...

, a real

islet An islet ( ) is generally a small island. Definitions vary, and are not precise, but some suggest that an islet is a very small, often unnamed, island with little or no vegetation to support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/ ...

in the

North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for ...

. When

Martin Martin Martin Martin (Scottish Gaelic: Màrtainn MacGilleMhàrtainn) (–9 October 1718) was a Scotland, Scottish writer best known for his work ''A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland (Martin), A Description of the Western Islands of Scotlan ...

visited St Kilda in 1716, he refers to it as ''Rockoll'', but goes on to mention that the locals also knew Rockall as ''Rockabarra'' (''Rocabarraigh''). The name has hints of a Norse origin, ''barraigh'' (''bar-ey'') being a common element in Scottish placenames. ''Roca'' may come from the

Goidelic The Goidelic ( ) or Gaelic languages (; ; ) form one of the two groups of Insular Celtic languages, the other being the Brittonic languages. Goidelic languages historically formed a dialect continuum stretching from Ireland through the Isle o ...

language.

References

''A Description of the Western isles of Scotland'' (1716) * Phantom islands of the Atlantic Ocean Eschatology Fictional locations in Scotland St Kilda, Scotland Rockall Scottish toponymy Scottish mythology Mythological islands {{scotland-stub

See also

References