Rockall () is a , uninhabitable granite islet in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is west of Soay, St Kilda, Scotland; The nearest permanently inhabited place is in North Uist, east in Scotland's Outer Hebrides.

The granite rock from which Rockall is comprised formed during the Paleogene period, by magmatism as part of the North Atlantic Igneous Province. Rockall, Hasselwood Rock, 200 metres north, and the skerries of Helen's Reef two kilometers to the northeast are the only emergent parts of the Rockall Plateau. Twenty-nine-metre waves just east of Rockall were reported in 2006 as the largest ever recorded by scientific instruments in the open ocean. The Irish Times claims to have reported on the economic value of Rockall's fisheries as long ago as 1861. While never claiming sovereignty of Rockall, Ireland maintains that UK claims to Rockall are invalid.

Etymology

The origin and meaning of the 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'). It is also suggested the name Rockall is from the Norse , meaning 'foaming sea', and , meaning 'bald head'—a word that appears in other place names in Scandinavian-speaking areas. that became what is now widely known as Rockall—alternatively, the pebble flew off north-west as he lifted the chunk of land or when it landed into the sea.

Rockall appears on a 1550 Portuguese chart as 'Rochol', and on one of 1606 as 'Rocol'.

Rockall is named Rokol in its first-known literary reference, Martin Martin's 1698-published A Late Voyage to 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." An all round navigational beacon was first installed on Rockall's summit in 1972. Rockall's location was precisely determined by Nick Hancock during his 2014 expedition. 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). The Norge sinking led to a proposal by D. & C. Stevenson for an unattended lightship to be moored close to the rock.

The landing party left Endymion for the rock by boat. Endymion, while taking depth measurements around Rockall, lost visual contact with the rock as a haze descended. The ship drifted away, stranding the landing party. The party attempted a return to the ship, but in the haze could not find Endymion, and soon gave up to return to Rockall.

The haze became a fog. The lookout sent to the top of Rockall re-spotted the ship, but it turned away from Rockall before the party in their boats reached it. Finally, just before sunset, Endymion was again spotted from the top of Rockall, and the party was able to re-board. The Endymion crew reported they had searched for five or six hours, firing their cannon every ten minutes. Hall related this and other adventures in his book 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 were first charted in 1831. This was by Captain A. T. E. Vidal, a Royal Navy surveyor. It is uncertain if this visit produced a landing.

On 18 September 1955, Rockall was annexed by the British Crown. To do so, four men were winched onto the islet by a Royal Navy helicopter from (coincidentally named after the man who first charted the islet). The four were Lieutenant-Commander Desmond Scott RN, Sergeant Brian Peel RM, Corporal AA Fraser RM, and James Fisher (a civilian naturalist and former Royal Marine). The Admiralty announced the annexation on 21 September 1955.

The landing team cemented in a brass plaque on Hall's Ledge and hoisted the Union Flag to stake the UK's claim. The plaque inscription read:

Author Ian Mitchell opined Rockall was terra nullius (owned by no one), until the 1955 British claim. Rockall was the British Empire's final territorial expansion.

On 7 November 1955, J. Abrach Mackay, an 84-year-old local councilor and member of the Clan Mackay, protested the annexation; he declared: "My old father, God rest his soul, claimed that islet 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 his protest.

  1. 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 off Rockall, leaving a flat area of 12 feet by 5 feet. one holdover pilot.

The first female landings – Sue Hiscock and Christine Howson

The second landing of 1988 was the Nature Conservancy Council landing from FPV Noma. Sue Hiscock at this point became the first woman to land on Rockall.

Greenpeace visits and a 42-day record

thumb|Flag of the self-proclaimed "Global State of Waveland"

In 1997, three members of the environmentalist organisation Greenpeace occupied the islet for 42 days. On 16 June 2005, the first amateur radio (ham radio) activation of Rockall took place. The club station MS0IRC/P was set up and operated on HF frequencies. The IOTA number EU-189 was issued to Rockall as a result of this activation. The nine person landing team, plus safety and radio equipment, was from Islands Radio Club Outer Hebrides. They included two radio operators, James Cameron and David Woods. The two worked with 262 stations in the three-and-a-half hours in which they broadcast. The team cut short their landing to nine hours due to incoming bad weather, unfulfilling their plan to stay overnight.

In 2011 a group of seven Belgian amateur radio operators travelled on CDT Fourcault to Rockall. Two of them, Patrick Godderie and Rudi Marleen, landed on the rock on 1 October to set up a radio station transmitting for 15 hours. They used HF frequencies under the call sign "MM0RAI/P". They stayed one night unsheltered on the islet. The weather conditions at the time "were not favourable" according to a Maritime and Coastguard Agency official.

On 5 June 2014, Hancock landed on Rockall to begin his 60-day attempt.

Cam Cameron rescue after 30 days

thumb|Cam Cameron on Rockall, 3 June 2023

In May 2023, Chris "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 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.]]

thumb|right|Diagonal view of the east face cliff

thumb|right|View from the north, showing side view of the east face cliff

Ocean swell hitting Rockall from the west was described by Nick Hancock as "exactly where you don't want it", for a successful landing attempt. A small step in the cliff on the western flank acts as a landing "platform". From there, anyone landing commences a fast, vertical scramble to safety out of the ocean swell zone. A traverse across the west face is then needed to reach the summit.

In 1971, Exercise Top Hat by the Corp of Royal Engineers blew the top off Rockall. That left a flat area of 12 feet by 5 feet at its longest and widest. This is the area cleared for an all-round navigation beacon (see #Deploying an all-round light beacon above). is both Rockall's first-named location and only occupiable area. It was named in 1955 after Basil Hall, the first recorded person to land on Rockall (see "History" section above). Rockall Bank lies directly south of 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).

thumb|left|View north to Hasselwood Rock, visible as breaking waves 200 metres from Rockall

thumb|upright=1.6|The [[Rockall Trough separating Ireland and Great Britain from the Rockall Plateau on which Rockall is situated]]

Hasselwood Rock, 200 metres north, and several other pinnacles of Helen's Reef, are smaller at half the size of Rockall or less. While similarly remote, those other formations are legally not islands nor points on land. That is because they are often submerged completely, only revealed momentarily above certain types of ocean surface waves.

Climate and weather

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

Although Rockall does not sustain a weather station, Rockall's isolated setting dictates an extremely oceanic climate without heat or cold extremes. The North Atlantic Current influences waters near Rockall.

Rockall's name is given to one of the 31 sea areas named in the British Meteorological Office's shipping forecast. as part of the breakup of Laurasia. Greenland and Europe separated and the north-east Atlantic Ocean was formed between them, 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,

  • Thyasira scotiae – a clam
  • Isorropodon mackayi – a clam in the order Veneroida

Ownership

Economic background

Possession of Rockall was for many decades deemed imperative to claims to the vast surrounding fisheries and oil-rich Atlantic seabed. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Peter Barry opined Rockall as irrelevant when determining the boundaries of the EEZ, since the rock is uninhabitable.

In 1994, two Scottish fishery inspectors were "kidnapped" by a Donegal vessel after they boarded it off Rockall. The ship's captain had been instructed to proceed to the nearest Scottish port for an alleged fishery offence. Instead he decided to steam for Killybegs with the two inspectors onboard. This caused a chase in the north Atlantic. After the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs intervened, the two officers were returned to their mother ship.

On 25 July 1997, the UK ratified UNCLOS, that 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.

21st century

In 2011, Eamon Gilmore stated, "While Ireland has not recognised British sovereignty over Rockall, it has never sought to claim sovereignty 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 and to fishing rights in the surrounding seas."

With effect from 31 March 2014, the UK and Ireland published EEZ limits which include Rockall within the UK's EEZ.

After the UK left the EU, the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement came into force on 1 January 2021. Three days later 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 a 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 would have allowed Irish fishing vessels to return to the 12-nautical-mile zone. The proposal was vetoed by the United Kingdom's Foreign Secretary, David Cameron.

  • In the 1951 novel The Cruel Sea by Nicholas Monsarrat, Rockall features as the place of the final act of HMS Saltashs 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." 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.
  • 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 rock. in which panellists put forward events to be included in a news bulletin ostensibly targeting the rock. Sue Perkins hosted the second series.
  • The duo and solo project of Runrig songwriters Calum and Rory MacDonald is called The Band from Rockall.

See also

  • List of islands of Scotland
  • List of outlying islands of Scotland

Notes

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)
  • "Rockall Scorpion RIB Adventure" 60-second video of aerial views of Rockall
  • "Rockall" Stuart Farish 3d animation 20-second video of aerial views of Rockall
  • "Rockall" 4-minute-3-second ITN video including failed and successful Tom McClean landing attempts on Rockall
  • "Rockall adventurer Nick Hancock bids to set survival record" 6-minute-14-second video by The Guardian re the Nick Hancock expedition
  • "Rockall Solo" 2-minute-28-second video including Nick Hancock showing how to land on Rockall from a dinghy
  • "Hebrides News: Nick Hancock leaps off Rockall" Hebrides Scotland video showing Nick Hancock jumping into the Atlantic and picked up by a dinghy when departing Rockall
  • "Rockall" 2-minute-28-second video preluding the Cam Cameron expedition. Includes an overhead map of Rockall.
  • RockallIsland.co.uk – a website detailing the MSØIRC/p amateur radio expedition of 16 June 2005
  • "Rockall 2011 - MM0RAI/P" 2012 Amateur radio DXPedition to Rockall EU-189 by the Belgian Expedition Team.
  • Waveland.org  – official website of the former micronation Waveland based on Rockall
  • 1955: Britain claims Rockall – "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.
  • Rockall.name – website in both English and Czech of Ondrej Danek's study of Rockall
  • Cross-section of the geology around Rockall
  • Article in the Press and Journal about the Rockall attempt in 2022