Rockall Rockall Rockall () is a British uninhabited granite islet located within the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the United Kingdom, situated in the North Atlantic Ocean. Its approximate distances from the closest large islands are: west of Scotland; northwest of Ireland; and 700 km (440 miles) south of Iceland. The nearest permanently inhabited place is North Uist, an island in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, 370 km (230 miles) to the east. The United Kingdom claimed Rockall in 1955 and incorporated it as a part of Scotland in 1972. Ireland does not recognise this claim, although it has never sought
Rockall 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 or to fishing rights in the surrounding seas." The origin and meaning of the islet's name "Rockall" is uncertain; the Old Norse name for the islet, "Ròcal", may contain the element "fjall", meaning "mountain". 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. Another idea is