DASG Blog

Ròcabarraigh

Atlantis; Isle of Demons; Sandy Island: Worthy examples of "Phantom Islands", islands that are not all true these days. The Gaels are not different in that regard with other ideas and examples of the likes: Teach Duinn; Emain Ablach; Hy-Brasil, etc. But there is one island that is very well-known which we shall look at today that is just as hidden and secretive: Rockabarra.

“Nuair a thig Rocabarra ris, is dual gun tèid an Saoghal a sgrios”- ["When Rocabarra returns, the world will likely come to ruin"]: This is the fearful phrase about this spooky island. Some say that the end of the world will come if she appears three times, but we are hopeful that she will not come back then!
But despite the myth behind it there is a great chance that "Rockall" or "Rockall Skerry" are Rockabarra, which can be found in the centre of the Atlantic Ocean.

But we are not totally without information about this island. Some are of the opinion that Rockabarra, or Rockall, came to be according to the folklore of Fionn MacCumhail and the Fingalians: Fionn MacCumhail took a chunk out Ireland to chuck at an enemy, another giant from Scotland. But it fell in the Irish Sea, making the Isle of Man, but a pebble of it fell in the Atlantic, making Rockall. The hole of the chunk was filled in with water and Lough Neagh was made.

But the situation of the island is very important even these days, some say that it's location is extremely important for fishing rights that can be had if she belonged to any country in particular. Therefore there have been many disputes around to whom the island belongs. Therefore, many countries have been in competition for the skerry. There is a story that a MacKay man in 07/11/1955 protested against the UK government, stating that Rockall was put in the possession of Clan MacKay in 1846 instead of the UK Navy. As it should be obvious to you, his protest never succeded. You can read more about this story, and further about Rockall, on Wikipedia. There is a great article in Deo-grèine, p. 146 I would recommend to you about stories connected to Rockabarra.

Do you recognise any of the stories above about Rockarra? Do you know of any stories or idioms connected to Rockarra? Let us know on facebook, twitter and our website.