North Rona
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North Rona, often just called Rona, is a remote Scottish island in the North Atlantic. It lies approximately forty miles north west of Cape Wrath and ten miles east of Sula Sgeir and is said to have been the residence of Saint Ronan in the eighth century.
Rona was inhabited for many years afterwards, but the entire population died in 1680 after rats reached the island, and a ship raided their food stocks. It was resettled, but again depopulated by around 1695, after which it remained home to one family until 1844. More isolated than Saint Kilda, it is the remotest island in the British Isles to have ever been permanently inhabited.
The island still boasts the Celtic ruins of St Ronan's Chapel. It is owned by Scottish National Heritage, and managed as a nature reserve, for its important grey seal and seabird colonies.
Bibliography
- Island Years by Frank Fraser Darling