North Rona

North Rona

Gaelic name	Rònaigh
Norse name	hraun-øy?
Meaning of name	possibly "seal island"
Location
North Rona North Rona shown within Scotland
OS grid reference	HW811323
Coordinates	59°07′N 5°49′W / 59.12°N 5.82°W / 59.12; -5.82
Physical geography
Island group	North Atlantic
Area	270 acres (109 hectares)
Area rank	145
Highest elevation	Tobha Rònaigh 354 ft (108 metres)
Administration
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Country	Scotland
Council area	Comhairle nan Eilean Siar
Demographics
Population	0
References

North Rona Lighthouse

North Rona
Scotland
Coordinates	59°07′17″N 5°48′53″W / 59.121272°N 5.814784°W / 59.121272; -5.814784
Year first constructed	1984
Automated	1984
Construction	masonry building
Tower shape	parallelepiped building with lantern on the roof
Markings / pattern	white building
Height	13 metres (43 ft)
Focal height	114 metres (374 ft)
Light source	solar power
Characteristic	Fl (3) W 20s.
Admiralty number	A3869
NGA number	3574
ARLHS number	SCO-153
Managing agent	Rona and Sula Sgeir National Nature Reserve

Rona (Scottish Gaelic: Rònaigh, pronounced [rˠɔːnaj]) is a remote Scottish island in the North Atlantic. Rona is often referred to as North Rona in order to distinguish it from South Rona (another small island, in the Inner Hebrides). It has an area of 109 hectares (270 acres) and a maximum elevation of 108 metres (354 ft)

The island lies 71 kilometres (44 mi) north north east of the Butt of Lewis and 18 kilometres (11 mi) east of Sula Sgeir. More isolated than St Kilda, it is the most remote island in the British Isles to have ever been inhabited on a long-term basis. It is also the closest neighbour to the Faroe Islands. Because of the island's remote location and small area, it is omitted from many maps of the United Kingdom.

The name "Rona" may come from hraun-øy, Old Norse for "rough island", a combination of ròn and øy, Gaelic and Old Norse for "seal" and "island" respectively, or it may have been named after Saint Ronan. The English language qualifier "North" is sometimes used to distinguish the island from Rona off Skye. In Gaelic it is also known as Rònaigh an Daimh which is literally "Rona of the stag" but may be derived from Rònaigh an Taibh, containing the Norse word tabh, meaning "ocean" and convey the meaning "Rona of the Atlantic".

Rona is said to have been the residence of Saint Ronan in the eighth century. A tiny early Christian oratory which may be as early as this date, built of unmortared stone, survives virtually complete on the island - the best preserved structure of this type in Scotland. A number of simple cross-slabs of early medieval date are preserved within the structure, probably the grave-markers of Dark Age monks or hermits from Scotland or Ireland. The island continued to be inhabited until the entire population of thirty died shortly after 1685 after an infestation by rats, probably the black rat (Rattus rattus), which reached the island after a shipwreck. The rats raided the food stocks of barley meal and it is possible the inhabitants starved to death, although plague may have been a contributory factor. This occurred in a year in which it is reported that no further ships reached the isolated island to supply or trade. The rats themselves eventually starved to death, the huge swells the island experiences preventing their hunting along the rocky shores.