[6] The nearest permanently inhabited place is North Uist, an island in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, 370 kilometres (230 mi; 200 nmi) to the east.

[14][15] The Dutch mapmakers Petrus Plancius and C. Claesz [nl], show an island called Rookol northwest of Ireland on their Map of New France and the Northern Atlantic Ocean (Amsterdam, c. 1594).

[17] Rockall's name has also been used in Irish mythology; one story describes how legendary giant Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn McCool) scooped up a chunk of Ireland to fling at a Scottish rival.

[21][22] In the 20th century, its location became relevant due to potential oil and fishing rights that might accrue to a nation recognised as having a legitimate claim to it.

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,[citation needed] and the longest known continuous occupation is 45 days (achieved in 2014 by a solo person).

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, in the summer of 1862, was by a Mr Johns of HMS Porcupine whilst the ship was making a survey of the sea bed prior to the laying of a transatlantic telegraph cable.

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 HMS Vidal (coincidentally named after the man who first charted the island).

[27] The expedition team cemented in a brass plaque on Hall's Ledge and hoisted the Union Flag to stake the UK's claim.

[20][29] In 1971,[30] Captain T. R. Kirkpatrick RE led the landing party on a government expedition named "Operation Top Hat" that was 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 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.

[citation needed] In 1978,[31] eight members of the Dangerous Sports Club, including David Kirke, one of its founders, held a cocktail party on the island,[32] allegedly leaving with the plaque.

[33] Former SAS member and survival expert Tom McClean decided to live on the island from 26 May 1985 to 4 July 1985 to affirm the UK's claim to the islet.

Andy Strangeway, a British adventurer, announced his intention to land on the island and affix a replacement plaque in June 2010.

[50][51] In May 2023 Cam Cameron, a science teacher and former Gordon Highlander, began an attempt to stay 60 days on Rockall to raise funds for military charities.

He was accompanied to the rock by a radio operator, Adrian Styles, and Bulgarian mountaineer Emil Bergmann, both of whom planned to stay with him for a week and then leave.

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.

[citation needed] 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.

[57] 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.

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

[59] 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 nearest point on land from Rockall is 301.3 kilometres (162.7 nmi), east at the uninhabited Scottish island of Soay in the St Kilda archipelago.

The first scientific expedition to Rockall was led by Miller Christy in 1896 when the Royal Irish Academy sponsored a study of the flora and fauna.

[87] The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland claims Rockall along with a 12-nautical-mile-radius (22 km) territorial sea around the islet inside the country's exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

[89] 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.

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.

[85][92] 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 ordered to leave the 12-nautical-mile zone around Rockall by officers of Marine Scotland.