Rockall part of the deeply eroded Rockall Igneous Centre that was formed as part of the North Atlantic Igneous Province, 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, 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
Rockall often given as 8 July 1810, when a Royal Navy officer named Basil Hall led a small landing party from the frigate to the summit. However, research by James Fisher of the landing (see below), in the log of the Endymion and elsewhere, indicates that the actual date for this first landing was on Sunday 8 September 1811. The landing party left the "Endymion" for the rock by boat. Whilst there, 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