Rockall

This article is about the islet. For other uses, see Rockall (disambiguation).
Rockall

Southern face of Rockall
Location of Rockall in Europe.
Location of Rockall
Geography
Location North-east Atlantic
Coordinates
OS grid reference MC035165
Area 784.3 m2 (8,442 sq ft)
Highest elevation 17.15 m (56.27 ft)
Country
Demographics
Population 0

Rockall is an uninhabited remote granite islet in the North Atlantic Ocean situated at the following rough distances from the closest large islands: 430 km (270 miles) north-west of Ireland, 460 km (290 miles) west of Great Britain and 700 km (440 miles) south of Iceland. It is within the United Kingdom's exclusive economic zone.[1][2] The nearest permanently inhabited place is North Uist, an island in the Scottish Outer Hebrides, 370 km (230 miles) to the east.

Since the late 16th century, the 17.15-metre-high (56.27 ft) rock has been noted in written records,[3][4][5] although it is likely that some northern Atlantic fishermen knew of the rock before these historical accounts were made. In the 20th century, the location of the islet became a major interest due to the potential oil and fishing rights, spurring continued debate amongst several European nations.

Lord Kennet said of it in 1971 that, "There can be no place more desolate, despairing and awful."[6] It gives its name to one of the sea areas named in the shipping forecast provided by the British Meteorological Office.

Rockall has been a point of interest for adventurers and amateur radio operators who have variously landed on or briefly occupied the islet. Fewer than 20 individuals have ever been confirmed to have landed on Rockall, and the longest continuous stay by an individual is currently 45 days.[7] In a House of Commons debate in 1971, William Ross, MP for Kilmarnock, said: "More people have landed on the moon than have landed on Rockall."[6]

In 1956 the British scientist James Fisher referred to the island as "the most isolated small rock in the oceans of the world".[8] 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 waves.

The United Kingdom claimed Rockall in 1955 and had previously claimed an extended exclusive economic zone based on it. This claim to an extended zone was dropped upon ratifying UNCLOS in 1997, since rocks or islets such as Rockall, that cannot sustain human habitation or economic life, are not entitled to an exclusive economic zone under the Convention.[1] However such features are entitled to a territorial sea extending 12 nautical miles. The UK's claim to territorial waters around Rockall was previously disputed by Ireland on the basis of uncertain ownership of the rock.[9] With effect from 31 March 2014, the UK and Ireland published EEZ limits which resolved any disputes over the ownership of the islet.[10][11]

In response to a Freedom of Information request, the British Government has said, "The islet of Rockall is part of the UK: specifically it forms part of Scotland under the Island of Rockall Act 1972. No other state has disputed our claim to the islet."[1]

Etymology

View of Rockall from the south

The origin and meaning of the name "Rockall" are uncertain. The Old Norse name for the islet, Ròcal, may contain the element fjall, meaning "mountain".[12] It has also been suggested that the name is from the Norse *rok, meaning "foaming sea", and kollr, meaning "bald head"—a word which appears in other placenames in Scandinavian-speaking areas.[13] Another idea is that it derives from the Gaelic Sgeir Rocail, meaning "skerry of roaring" or "sea rock of roaring"[14] (although rocail can also be translated as "tearing" or "ripping").[15][16]

Dutch mapmakers P. Plancius and C. Claesz show an island called "Rookol" northwest of Ireland on their Map of New France and the Northern Atlantic Ocean (Amsterdam, c. 1594). The first literary reference to the island, where it is called "Rokol", is found in Martin Martin's A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland published in 1703. This book gives an account of a voyage to the archipelago of St. Kilda, and Martin states: "... and from it lies Rokol, a small rock sixty leagues to the westward of St. Kilda; the inhabitants of this place call it Rokabarra."[17]

The name Rocabarraigh is also used in Scottish Gaelic folklore for a mythical rock which is supposed to appear three times, its last appearance being at the end of the world: "Nuair a thig Rocabarra ris, is dual gun tèid an Saoghal a sgrios." (When Rocabarra returns, the world will likely come to be destroyed.)[12]

Geography

Winter waves breaking over the islet, 11 March 1943

The islet of Rockall is one of the few pinnacles of the surrounding Helen's Reef. It is located 301.3 km, or 162.7 nmi west of the island of Soay, St Kilda, Scotland,[18] and 423.2 kilometres (263.0 miles; 228.5 nautical miles) northwest of Tory Island, County Donegal, Ireland.[19] Rockall's location was precisely determined by Nick Hancock during his 2014 expedition.[20] The surrounding elevated seabed is called the Rockall Bank, lying directly south from an area known as the Rockall Plateau. It is separated from the Western Isles by the Rockall Trough, itself located within the Rockall Basin (also known as the "Hatton Rockall Basin"). The Anton Dohrn Seamount is a submarine elevation on Rockall Trough about halfway between Rockall and the Outer Hebrides.

The Rockall Trough separating Ireland and Scotland from the Rockall Plateau on which Rockall is situated

Cold-water coral mounds have been identified in the region,[21] and are currently being researched.[22] Rockall lies near the Darwin Mounds, deep water coral mounds about 185 km (100 nmi or 115 mi) northwest of Cape Wrath. These corals are long-lived and slow-growing, a justification for designating Rockall and the Rockall waters as a Marine Protected Area.[23]

Rockall is about 25 metres (80 ft) wide and 31 metres (100 ft) long at its base[24] and rises sheer to a height of 17.15 m (56.27 ft).[3][4][5] It is often washed over by large storm waves, particularly in winter. There is a small ledge of 3.5 by 1.3 metres (11.5 by 4.3 ft), known as Hall's Ledge, 4 metres (13 ft) from the summit on the rock's western face.[25] It is the only named geographical location on the rock.

The nearest point on land from Rockall is 301.3 km, or 162.7 nmi, east at the uninhabited Scottish island of Soay in the St Kilda archipelago. The nearest inhabited area lies 303.2 km, or 163.7 nmi, east[26] at Hirta, the largest island in the St. Kilda group, which is populated intermittently at a single military base.[27][28] The nearest permanently inhabited settlement is 366.8 km, or 198.1 nmi, west of the headland of Aird an Runair,[29] near the crofting township of Hogha Gearraidh on the island of North Uist at NF705711 (57°36′33″N 7°31′7″W / 57.60917°N 7.51861°W). North Uist is part of the 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 Royal Navy surveyor. The first scientific expedition to Rockall was led by Miller Christie in 1896 when the Royal Irish Academy sponsored a study of the flora and fauna.[30] They chartered the Granuaile.[8][31]

A detailed underwater mapping of the area around Rockall undertaken in the summer of 2011 by FRV Scotia 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.[32]

Geology

1889 illustration of Rockall[33]

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 the alkali pyroxene mineral aegirine and the alkali amphibole mineral riebeckite. The dark 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 on Rockall. The mineral is called bazirite, (chemical composition BaZrSi3O9), named after the elements barium and zirconium.[34]

Rockall forms part of the deeply eroded Rockall Igneous Centre that was formed as part of the North Atlantic Igneous Province,[35] approximately 55 million years ago, when the ancient continent of Laurasia was split apart by plate tectonics. Greenland and Europe separated and the northeast Atlantic Ocean was formed between them.[36]

The RV Celtic Explorer surveyed the Rockall Bank and North West of Donegal in 2003.[37] The ILV Granuaile was chartered by the Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI), on behalf of the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources (DCMNR), to conduct a seismic survey at the Rockall and Hatton Banks in July 2004,[38] as part of the National Seabed Survey.[38]

Ecology

The island's only permanent macro-organism 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.

Discovery of new species

In December 2013 surveys by Marine Scotland 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. The discovery has raised the issue of restricting some forms of fishery to protect the sea bed.[39] The species are:

Visits to Rockall

For more details on HMS Endymion's landing on Rockall, see HMS Endymion (1797).
An illustration depicting HMS Endymion's landing party in their boat at Rockall, with the Endymion in the background.

The earliest recorded date for landing on the island is often given as 8 July 1810, when a Royal Navy officer named Basil Hall led a small landing party from the frigate HMS Endymion to the summit. However, research by James Fisher of the 1955 landing (see below) in the log of the Endymion and elsewhere, indicates that the true date for this first landing was Sunday 8 September 1811.[40]

The landing party left the Endymion for the rock by boat. While they were on the rock, the 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 the 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 accomplished by a Mr Johns of HMS Porcupine, whilst the ship was on a mission, from June and August 1862, to make a survey of the sea bed prior to the laying of a transatlantic telegraph cable. Johns managed to gain foothold on the island, but failed to reach the summit.

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 by a helicopter onto the island by a Royal Navy helicopter from HMS Vidal (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:

By authority of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of her other realms and territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith, and in accordance with Her Majesty's instructions dated the 14th day of September, 1955, a landing was effected this day upon this island of Rockall from HMS Vidal. The Union flag was hoisted and possession of the island was taken in the name of Her Majesty. [Signed] R H Connell, Captain, HMS Vidal, 18 September 1955.

On 7 November 1955, one J. Abrach Mackay, a member of the Clan Mackay made an official 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.[41][42]

The initial incentive 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 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 a request was sent to the Admiralty to seize the island and declare UK sovereignty lest it become an outpost for foreign observers.

In 1971, Captain T R Kirkpatrick RE led the landing party on a government expedition 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. There was no evidence of the brass plate thought to have been installed in 1955 and two phosphor bronze plates were chased into the wall above Hall's Ledge, each secured by four 80-tonne rock-anchor bolts.

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.

Former SAS member and survival expert Tom McClean lived on the island from 26 May 1985 to 4 July 1985 to affirm the UK's claim to the island[43] (although he was born in Ireland).

In 1997, the environmentalist organisation Greenpeace occupied the islet for a short time as a publicity stunt,[44] calling it Waveland, to protest against oil exploration. Greenpeace declared the island to be a "new Global State" (in this case qualifying it as a micronation), and offered citizenship to anyone willing to take their pledge of allegiance. The British Government's response was simply to give them permission to be there, and otherwise ignore them. Indeed, when asked, the Home Office responded that since Rockall was part of the United Kingdom, and since the United Kingdom was a free country, Greenpeace were perfectly entitled to be at Rockall. During his one night on Rockall, Greenpeace protester and Guardian journalist John Vidal unscrewed the 1955 plaque and re-fixed it back-to-front.[45]

In 2010, it was revealed that the plaque had gone missing. An Englishman, Andy Strangeway, announced his intention to land on the island and affix a replacement plaque in June 2010.[46] The Western Isles Council have approved planning permission for the plaque.[47] The 2010 expedition was cancelled, but Strangeway still intends to replace the plaque.[48]

In 2013 an occupation of the island by explorer Nick Hancock to raise money for the charity Help for Heroes was planned. The challenge was to land on Rockall and survive solo for 60 days.[49][50][51] On 31 May 2013, Hancock, and a TV crew from The One Show, sailed to the islet aboard the Orca III, and he made his first unsuccessful attempt to land on the islet.[52] The weather conditions at the time "were not favourable" according to a Maritime and Coastguard Agency official. Subsequently, Hancock postponed his challenge until 2014.[53] On 5 June 2014 Hancock successfully landed on Rockall to begin his 60-day survival.[54] While he was 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).[55]

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.[56]

Ownership

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

United Kingdom

Lieutenant Commander Desmond Scott hoists the Union Flag in 1955

The UK formally annexed Rockall on 21 September 1957 when "Two Royal Marines and a civilian naturalist, led by Royal Navy officer Lieutenant Commander Desmond Scott, raised a Union flag on the island and cemented a plaque into the rock".[57]

The UK claims Rockall along with a 12-nautical-mile (22 km; 14 mi) territorial sea around the islet inside the UK's exclusive economic zone (EEZ).[58] The UK also claims "a circle of UK sovereign airspace over the islet of Rockall".[58]

In 1972, the British Island of Rockall Act annexed Rockall to the United Kingdom. UK considers the island administratively part of the Isle of Harris and, under the Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999 a large sea area around it was declared to be under the jurisdiction 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 50-mile (80 km) radius of the rock.[59]

Historically, the UK claimed Rockall as the basis for an extended EEZ. However, in 1997, the United Kingdom ratified the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. In doing so it relinquished this claim as the agreement states that "Rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf". Prior to 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".[2]

As the rock lies within the United Kingdom's EEZ, the UK has exclusive rights and obligations in relation to the exploitation, conservation and management of the rock itself.[10]

Ireland

The Irish Naval Service vessel, LÉ Róisín, on routine patrol at Rockall 230 nautical miles off the north-west coast of Ireland, 12 October 2012

Irish claims to the rock have been based on its proximity to the Irish mainland.[60] Ireland has never formally claimed sovereignty over Rockall, but formally rejected the British territorial claim, "which would be the basis for a claim to a 12-mile territorial sea".[61] Additionally, Ireland regards Rockall as irrelevant when determining the boundaries of the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) as the rock is uninhabitable.[2][62][63]

In 1988, Ireland and the United Kingdom signed an EEZ boundary agreement, ignoring the rock, that includes Rockall within the United Kingdom's EEZ.[2]

In October 2012, the Irish Independent published a picture of the Irish Navy ship LÉ Róisín sailing past Rockall, and claimed that it was defending Ireland's sovereign rights to the rock.[64]

With effect from 31 March 2014, the UK and Ireland published EEZ limits which resolved any disputes over the ownership of the islet.[10][11]

Shipping disasters

ROCKALL – Nautical chart – Atlantic Sea Pilot, 1884

There have been various disasters on the neighbouring Hasselwood Rock and Helen's Reef (the latter was not named until 1830).

In popular culture

See also

References

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 FOI response by HM Government 8 March 2012
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Written Answers – Rockall Island. debates.oireachtas.ie. 24 March 2011. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Rockall Club website's Facts page. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 bbc.co.uk. 8 October 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Stornoway Gazette. 8 October 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 The Independent ~ 12 June 1997
  7. ↑ "The Guardian - Record occupation of Rockall". theguardian.com. 26 March 2015. Retrieved 26 Mar 2015.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Fisher, James (1956). Rockall. London: Geoffrey Bles. pp. 12–13.
  9. ↑ Clive Symmons "Ireland and the Rockall Dispute: An Analysis of Recent Developments" Durham University
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 "The Exclusive Economic Zone Order 2013" http://www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Maritime Jurisdiction (Boundaries of Exclusive Economic Zone) Order 2014" http://www.irishstatutebook.ie. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Mac an Tàilleir, Iain (2003) Ainmean-àite/Placenames. (pdf) Pàrlamaid na h-Alba. Retrieved 26 August 2012. p. 101
  13. ↑ Coates (1990) pp. 49–54, esp. 51-2.
  14. ↑ Keay and Keay (1994) p. 817.
  15. ↑ "Sgeir" ceantar.org. Retrieved 18 January 2008.
  16. ↑ "Rocail" ceantar.org. Retrieved 18 January 2008.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Martin, Martin (c. 1695). A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. ↑ Google Earth. Rockall ETRS89 57°35'46.695"N 13°41'14.308"W to Gob a' Ghaill, Soay, St Kilda at approximately WGS84 57°49'40.8"N 8°38'59.4"W is approximately 301,302 kilometres (187,220 miles; 162,690 nautical miles).
  19. ↑ Google Earth. Rockall ETRS89 57°35'46.695"N 13°41'14.308"W to Tory Island at approximately WGS84 55°16'29.73"N 8°15'00.92"W is approximately 423,241 kilometres (262,990 miles; 228,532 nautical miles).
  20. ↑ "Nick Hancock guest blog Ordnance Survey". 9 October 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  21. ↑ "Atlantic Coral Ecosystem Study (ACES) and Environmental Controls on Mound Formation Along the European Margin (ECOMOUND)". HERMES programme. University of Liverpool. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
  22. ↑ Wheeler, A.J.; Wheeler, A.J. – Kozachenko, M. – Henry, L.-A. – Foubert, A. – de Haas, H. – Huvenne, V.A.I. – Masson D.G. – Olu, K. (2010). "The Moira Mounds, small cold-water coral banks in the Porcupine Seabight". Marine Geology 282: 53–64. doi:10.1016/j.margeo.2010.08.006. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
  23. ↑ Lutter, Stephan. "The" (PDF). The Rockall Bank – A Potential MP. WWWF. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
  24. ↑ MacDonald, Fraser (2006) 'The last outpost of Empire: Rockall and the Cold War", (pdf) Journal of Historical Geography, 32 627–647. University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
  25. ↑ "About Rockall" Rockall2011.com. Accessed 12 December 2010
  26. ↑ Google Earth. Rockall ETRS89 57°35'46.695"N 13°41'14.308"W to An Campar, Hirta, St Kilda at approximately WGS84 57°49'30.4"N 8°37'03.6"W is approximately 303,195 kilometres (188,397 miles; 163,712 nautical miles).
  27. ↑ Maclean (1977) page 142.
  28. ↑ "Advice for visitors" (2004) National Trust for Scotland. Retrieved 18 March 2007.
  29. ↑ Google Earth. Rockall ETRS89 57°35'46.695"N 13°41'14.308"W to Aird an Runair, North Uist at approximately WGS84 57°36'11.4"N 7°32'59.3"W is approximately 366,843 kilometres (227,946 miles; 198,079 nautical miles).
  30. ↑ "Brochure" (PDF). The Royal Irish Academy. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 May 2008. Retrieved 13 December 2010 – via Internet Archive.
  31. ↑ John Hamilton (1999/2000). "Granuaile – Not the Irish Lights tender..". BEAM Magazine 28. Retrieved 1 August 2007. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  32. ↑ Marine Scotland report
  33. ↑ Harvie-Brown et al (1889) Facing p. LXXXI.
  34. ↑ Minerals of Scotland by Alec Livingstone, 2002, National Museums of Scotland
  35. ↑ Ritchie, J.D.; Gatliff, R.W.; Richards, P.C. (1999). "Early Tertiary magmatism in the offshore NW UK margin and surrounds". In Fleet A.J. & Boldy S.A.R. Petroleum geology of Northwest Europe: proceedings of the 5th conference, held at the Barbican Centre, London, 26–29 October 1997, Volume 1. London: Geological Society. p. 581. ISBN 978-1-86239-039-3. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
  36. ↑ Igneous Rocks of the British Isles edited by D.S. Sutherland, 1982, Wiley
  37. ↑ "Irish National Seabed Survey". 2004. Retrieved 1 August 2007.
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 Gray, Dermot (2004/2005). "Granuaile carries out seismic survey at Rockall" (PDF). Beam (Irish Lighthouse Service) 33: 14–16. Retrieved 1 August 2007. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  39. ↑ "Deep sea creatures found off Rockall 'new to science'". News Highlands and Islands (BBC). 28 December 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
  40. ↑ Fisher, James (1957). Rockall. The Country Book Club. pp. 23–35.
  41. ↑ Ondřej Daněk "Rockall" 2009
  42. ↑ The Independent
  43. ↑ "Written Answers – Rockall Island". Dáil Éireann 358. 22 May 1985. Retrieved 1 August 2007.
  44. ↑ SchNews issue 131, Justice?, Brighton, 22 August 1997; see also SchNEWS Annual, Justice?, Brighton, 1998, ISBN 0-9529748-1-9
  45. ↑ The Guardian 1/1/2011
  46. ↑ "Rockall bid – to erect Queen's plaque". Letterkenny Post. 25 February 2010. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
  47. ↑ "BBC article on 2010 planning permission". BBC News. 12 May 2010. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  48. ↑ "Island Man News". Andy Strangeway. 20 July 2010. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
  49. ↑
  50. ↑
  51. ↑ McCann, Jaymi (28 April 2013). "There's no place like home: Explorer plans to spend 60-days living on remote Scottish islet in this 8ft box". London: Daily Mail. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  52. ↑ Severin Carrell, Scotland correspondent (31 May 2013). "Rockall adventurer fails in first attempt to land on remote Atlantic islet | UK news | guardian.co.uk". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  53. ↑ Severin Carrell, Scotland correspondent (1 June 2013). "Rockall occupation bid postponed until 2014 after weather prevents landing | UK news". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
  54. ↑ "Ratho adventurer Nick Hancock begins Rockall solo bid". 5 June 2014.
  55. ↑ 55.0 55.1 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/marine/marine-environment/ecosystems/Rockall
  56. ↑ Round Rockall Race
  57. ↑ BBC staff (2008). "1955: Britain claims Rockall". BBC.
  58. ↑ 58.0 58.1 Letter dated 8 March 2012, released as part of a response from Foreign and Commonwealth Office to a request made using WhatDoTheyKnow, accessed 6 October 2012.
  59. ↑ "Rockall – The Jubilee landing and a bit of history. | heavywhalley". Heavywhalley.wordpress.com. 11 June 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  60. ↑ Symmons (1993), p. 35. "As a matter of international law fall within Irish jurisdiction" and "which are closer to the Irish than the British coast"
  61. ↑ "Dáil Éireann – Volume 453 Number 3 – Tuesday, 23 May 1995 Written Answers – Ownership of Rockall". Dáil Éireann. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  62. ↑ Tullio Treves; Laura Pineschi (1997). The Law of the Sea: The European Union and Its Member States. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. pp. 305–. ISBN 978-90-411-0326-0. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
  63. ↑ "Dáil Éireann – Volume 384 – 29 November 1988 Continental Shelf Delimitation Agreement between Ireland and Britain: Motion". Historical-debates.oireachtas.ie. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  64. ↑ Heffernan, Breda (13 October 2012). "Our Navy's show of force off Rockall". Independent.ie.
  65. ↑ Flanders and Swann online
  66. ↑ White, T. H., The Master: An Adventure Story (1957) J. Moulder and M. Schaefer. Retrieved 28 March 2008.
  67. ↑ http://www.gwales.com/goto/biblio/en/9780954222918/
  68. ↑ "Rock on Rockall". Retrieved 1 August 2007.
  69. ↑ http://www.frasermacdonald.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/MacDonald-F-JHG-2006.pdf
  70. ↑ The Rockall Club
  71. ↑ Nick Hancock sets world records on Rockall, Grindtv; accessed 18 July 2014.

Bibliography

  • Coates, Richard (1990) The place-names of St Kilda. Lewiston, etc.: Edwin Mellen Press. ISBN 0-88946-077-9.
  • 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 ISBN 1-84195-454-3
  • Keay, J., and Keay, J. (1994) Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland. London. HarperCollins ISBN 0-00-255082-2
  • Maclean, Charles (1977) Island on the Edge of the World: the Story of St. Kilda, Edinburgh, Canongate ISBN 0-903937-41-7
  • 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.
  • Symmons, Clive Ralph (1993). Ireland and the law of the sea. Blackrock: Round Hall Press. ISBN 1-85800-022-X.
  • Symmons, Clive Ralph (1978). The maritime zones of islands in international law. The Hague; Boston: M. Nijhoff. ISBN 9789024721719.

Further reading

External links

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