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 Scotland's Outer Hebrides.

Rockall was formed during the Paleogene period by magmatism, as part of the North Atlantic Igneous Province. Rockall's only named geographic location and occupiable area is Hall's Ledge. Rockall and Hasselwood Rock 200 metres North, are the only emergent parts of Helen's Reef and the Rockall Plateau.

Rockall has appeared on maps since at least 1550 and in literature since at least 1698. Marine surveyors, scientists, adventurers, amateur radio operators and environmental activists, have variously landed on and/or briefly occupied the islet. The earliest documented landing on Rockall was in 1811 by a small Royal Navy party led by Basil Hall. The longest known continuous occupation is 45 days, achieved solo in 2014 by Nick Hancock.

In the 20th century, Rockall's importance grew due to potential oil"Oil billions at stake as UN examines British claims to Rockall" theguardian.com Owen Bowcott, 1 Jan 2011
/ref> and fishing"Iceland reaffirms its claim to waters around Rockall" 21 Jun 2019
/ref> rights, that might accrue to a nation recognised with a legitimate claim to Rockall. The United Kingdom (UK) claimed Rockall in 1955 and incorporated it as a part of Scotland in 1972. The UK claims a territorial sea at Rockall.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."

Although never claiming sovereignty of Rockall, Ireland rejects the UK claim. In 2021 an Irish fishing boat was boarded and ordered to leave the Rockall 12-nautical-mile zone, by officers of a Marine Scotland patrol boat. The Irish and Scottish governments in 2024 proposed bi-laterly, allowing Irish fishing vessels to return to the 12 nautical mile zone. UK Foreign Secretary, David Cameron, vetoed the proposal.

Etymology

The origin and meaning of the islet's name ''Rockall'' is uncertain. The name is used in Scots Gaelic folklore for a mythical rock that 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'). Another idea is the name ''Rockall'' derives from the Gaelic , meaning 'skerry of roaring' or 'sea rock of roaring', (although can also be translated as 'tearing' or 'ripping').

The Scottish Gaelic name for Rockall, , may derive from an Old Norse name that may contain the element , meaning 'mountain'. It is also suggested the name ''Rockall'' is from the Norse , meaning 'foaming sea', and , meaning 'bald head' — a word that appears in other placenames in Scandinavian-speaking areas.

Irish mythology giant Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn McCool), allegedly scooped up a chunk of what is now Ulster to fling at a Scottish rival. It missed, instead landing in the Irish Sea to become the Isle of Man. The void left behind filled with water to become Lough Neagh. McCool is then alleged to have thrown a pebble that became what is now widely known as Rockall."The Wolfe Tones say they will defend island at center of Ireland/Scotland battle" irishcentral.com Jun 12, 2019
/ref>

The islet appears on a 1550 Portuguese chart as ‘Rochol’, and on one of 1606 as ‘Rocol’. The Dutch mapmakers Petrus Plancius and , show an island called ''Rookol'' northwest of Ireland on their ''Map of New France and the Northern Atlantic Ocean'' (Amsterdam, ).

The islet is called ''Rokol'' in the first known literary reference to the island, 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. The book states: "... and from it lies Rokol, a small rock to the westward of St Kilda; the inhabitants of this place call it '' Rokabarra''."

Location

In 1956 the British scientist James Fisher referred to the islet as "the most isolated small rock in the oceans of the world". An all round navigational beacon was first installed on the summit of Rockall in 1972. Rockall's location was precisely determined by Nick Hancock during his 2014 expedition.

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, 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 North Uist at . North Uist is part of ''Na h-Eileanan Siar'' council area of Scotland.

Rockall is northwest of Tory Island, County Donegal, Ireland. Rockall is also south of Iceland.

History

Earliest mentions

What is now known as Rockall appears in Scots and Irish mythology (see "Etymology" section above). Rockall appears on maps from 1550 onward."FAQs - The Rockall Club" therockallclub.org Retrieved 12 October 2014
/ref> The first known literary reference to the islet is in Martin Martin's ''A Late Voyage to St. Kilda'', published in 1698 (see "Etymology" section above).

Recorded visits to Rockall

In 1971, Lord Kennet remarked, "There can be no place more desolate, despairing and awful" In a House of Commons debate in the same year, Willie Ross, Labour MP for Kilmarnock, said: "More people have landed on the moon than have landed on Rockall"

HMS Endymion

The earliest recorded date of landing on the island is often given as 8 July 1810. A Royal Navy officer named Basil Hall has been reported as leading a small landing party from the frigate to the summit. However, research by James Fisher (see "Location" section above), 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''.

19th Century surveying and scientific visits

The exact position of Rockall and the size and shape of the Rockall Bank was first charted in 1831. This was by Captain A. T. E. Vidal, a Royal Navy surveyor.

The next landing, in the summer of 1862, was by a Mr Johns of , whilst the ship was surveying 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.

The first scientific expedition to Rockall was led by Miller Christy in 1896. The Royal Irish Academy sponsored his study of the flora and fauna. They chartered the ''Granuaile''.

British annexation

On 18 September 1955, Rockall was annexed by the British Crown when Lieutenant-Commander Desmond Scott RN, Sergeant Brian Peel RM, Corporal 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 to stake the UK's claim. The inscription on the plaque read:

It was the final territorial expansion of the British empire. According to Ian Mitchell, Rockall was ''terra nullius'' (owned by no one) until the 1955 British claim was made.

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, an 84-year- old local councillor and member of the Clan Mackay, made a protest about the annexation; he 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.

Deploying an all round light beacon

In 1971, Captain T. R. Kirkpatrick RE led the landing party on a government expedition named "Exercise Top Hat". Top Hat was mounted from with 2 aims:"Report on Operational Top Hat: government expedition to Rockall in 1970" https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk 13 February 2017
/ref>

# The principal aim of the exercise was to lay a flat surface on the top of Rockall so that an all round visual light could be erected in future. This was achieved by blowing the top 5 feet (1.5 metres) off Rockall, leaving a flat area of 12 feet by 5 feet.
# A secondary aim was to deck qualify one holdover pilot

Both aims were achieved. 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.

The Dangerous Sports Club and Tom McClean visits

In 1978, eight members of the Dangerous Sports Club, including David Kirke, one of its founders, held a cocktail party on the island. They allegedly left with the plaque.

Dublin born adventurer and ex- SAS member, Tom McClean, lived on the island for a then record 40 days from 26 May 1985 to 4 July 1985."One of the best wishes McGowan all the best in Atlantic quest" irishtimes.com Liam Gorman, Feb 12 2010
/ref>

Waveland

In 1997, three members of the environmentalist organisation Greenpeace occupied the islet for 42 days.. Among the three was John Vidal, unrelated to Vidal mentioned in a previous visit."'Hello Mum, I'm on Rockall': The £100bn piece of rock" theguardian.com John Vidal, 1 Jan 2011
/ref>

The Greenpeace team called Rockall Waveland, to protest against 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" and otherwise ignore them. The 1955 plaque was unscrewed and refixed back to front, and subsequently it disappeared.

21st Century visits

In June 2005 the first amateur radio (ham radio) activation of Rockall took place. 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 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. Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, the local authority for Rockall, approved planning permission for the plaque. The 2010 expedition was cancelled, and Strangeway did not replace the plaque.

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".

On 31 May 2013, adventurer Nick Hancock from Edinburgh and a TV crew from BBC's ''The One Show'', sailed to the islet aboard ''Orca III''. He planned to survive solo on Rockall for 60 days, raising money for Help for Heroes. He unsuccessfully attempted to land and survive on the islet. He had landed for the first time the previous year on a reconnaissance expedition coinciding with Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee. The weather conditions at the time "were not favourable" according to a Maritime and Coastguard Agency official. Instead, on 5 June 2014 Hancock landed on Rockall to begin his 60-day attempt. After losing supplies in a force 9 storm, he left Rockall after 45 days. He thus surpassed McClean's 40 day solo record by five days, and the 42 day record set by the Greenpeace group by three days.

In May 2023 Cam Cameron from Buckie, a science teacher and former Gordon Highlander, began an attempt to stay 60 days on Rockall. He was raising funds for military charities. He was accompanied to by a radio operator, Adrian Styles, and Bulgarian mountaineer Emil Bergmann. Styles and Bergmann planned to leave after a week. The group landed on Rockall on 30 May, having sailed from Inverkip on the Firth of Clyde. The attempt ended after 30 days when deteriorating weather conditions required Cameron's rescue by HM Coastguard.

Circumnavigations

The "Round Rockall" sailing race, sponsored by Galway Bay Sailing Club, runs from Galway, 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 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. 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 Ireland. The fleet had crossed the Atlantic in record time, and the City docks in Derry 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 Derry.

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. 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 world governing board for all powerboat activity.

Geography

Dimensions

Rockall rises sheer to a height of . Rockall is about wide and long at its base.

Hall's Ledge

Hall's Ledge is both Rockall's only named location and only occupiable area. Britain's loneliest island 260 miles out at sea where 3 men attempt to survive" https://www.mirror.co.uk 7 February 2023/ref> On Rockall's Western face,"Decapitating Rockall: How a 1970s Navy expedition blasted the top off the Atlantic islet" theregister.co.uk Gareth Corfield, Wed 22 Mar 2017
/ref> it was named in 1955 after Basil Hall, the first recorded person to land on Rockall (see "History" section above). The ledge measures just and is just from Rockall's summit.

Helen's Reef and other surrounding features

A detailed underwater mapping of the area around Rockall was undertaken in 2011–2012 by Marine Scotland. The mapping showed that Rockall is a minor pinnacle of the surrounding Helen's Reef. 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.

Hasselwood Rock 200 metres North,"Rockall – a timeline" theguardian.com Severin Carrell, 28 May 2013
/ref> and several other pinnacles of Helen's Reef, are smaller at half the size or less of Rockall. While similarly remote, those other formations are legally not islands nor points on land. That is since they are often submerged completely, only revealed momentarily above certain types of ocean surface waves.

The surrounding elevated seabed is called the Rockall Bank. Rockall Bank lies directly south from an area known as the Rockall Plateau. It is separated from the Outer Hebrides by the Rockall Trough, itself located within the Rockall Basin (also known as the "Hatton Rockall Basin").

Weather

Although Rockall does not sustain a weather station, Rockall's isolated setting dictates an extremely maritime climate without heat or cold extremes. Rockall is located in the pathway of the warming and moderating Gulf Stream. Rockall's name is given to 1 of the 31 sea areas named in the British Meteorological Office's shipping forecast. Rockall is often washed over by large storm waves, especially in winter.

Geology

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.

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.

Rockall forms part of the deeply eroded Rockall Igneous Centre that was formed as part of the North Atlantic Igneous Province. It was formed approximately 52 ± 8 million years ago based on rubidium–strontium dating, 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 1896 botany survey) was chartered by the Geological Survey of Ireland, 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 multicellular inhabitants are common periwinkles and other marine molluscs. Small numbers of seabirds, mainly fulmars, northern gannets, black-legged kittiwakes, and 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, which are contributing features for the East Rockall Bank and North-West Rockall Bank SACs.

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. The species are:
* '' Volutopsius scotiae'' Frussen, McKay & Drewery, 2013 – a sea snail about long
* '' Thyasira scotiana'' Zelaya, 2009 – a clam
* '' Isorropodon mackayi'' – a clam in the order Veneroida
* '' Antonbruunia sociabilis'' sp. – a marine worm in the order Phyllodocida

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 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 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 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 ''terra nullius''. The British Island of Rockall Act 1972 (c. 2) formally annexed Rockall to the United Kingdom. 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.

The UK considers the rock administratively part of the Isle of Harris. 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 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 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 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.

Early in January 2021, after the UK left the EU and the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement came into force, the ''Northern Celt'', an Irish fishing boat based out of Greencastle, County Donegal, was boarded and ordered to leave the 12-nautical-mile zone around Rockall by officers of Marine Scotland patrol boat. 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. In 2024, a proposed bilateral agreement between the governments of Ireland and Scotland that would have allowed Irish fishing vessels to return to the 12 nautical mile zone was vetoed by United Kingdom Foreign Secretary David Cameron.

Shipping disasters

There have been various disasters on the neighbouring Hasselwood Rock and Helen's Reef (the latter having been 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 and saved their lives. Some details of this event were recounted by Martin Martin 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 fisheries.
* 1812 – a survey vessel ''Leonidas'' foundered on Helen's Reef.
* 1824 – Brigantine ''Helen'' of Dundee, bound for Quebec, foundered on Helen's Reef with fatalities.
* 1904 – Danish ship SS ''Norge'' foundered on Hasselwood Rock with the loss of more than 635 of 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 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."
* In ''The Goon Show'' 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" 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''.
* '' 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'', 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''.
* 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 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!'', 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.
* 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'' 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.

See also

* List of islands of Scotland
* List of outlying islands of Scotland
* Seán Dublin Bay Rockall Loftus

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 Late Voyage to St. Kilda''
D. Brown and T. Goodwin, London (1698)
*
*

Further reading

* British Birds, birds breeding on Rockall. 86: 16–17, 320–321 (1993).

Houses of the Oireachtas, Parliament of Ireland – Tithe an Oireachtais
debate with the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Dáil Éireann, 1 November 1973.
* Martin, Martin ''A Description of the Western isles of Scotland'' (1716).
* W. Sporswood Green ''et al''
''Notes on Rockall Island and Bank, etc''
''The Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy'', Vol. 31, pp. 39-98. RIA, Dublin (1896)

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
 – 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

"Rockall Scorpion RIB Adventure" video showing aerial and views of Rockall

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