Rockabill 1.68

Rockabill is a group of two islands, \"The Rock\" and \"The Bill\", lying in the western Irish Sea about 6 kilometres east-north-east of Skerries, County Dublin, Ireland. An alternative Irish name, Carraig Dhá Bheola, meaning Two Lips Rock, is probably just a corruption of Carraig Dábhiolla.
The two granite islands are separated by a channel about 20 metres wide. On the Rock there is a lighthouse, built 1855–1860 from granite and limestone and automated in 1989, and several walls and outbuildings. These walled areas have enabled a build-up of soil and the establishment of vegetation, notably tree mallow, which provides nesting cover for the birds. The smaller Bill has very little vegetation.
Rockabill is an important seabird breeding island, especially notable for its terns. It is an internationally important site for roseate terns, with the largest colony in Europe, over 600 pairs in 2003. There are similar numbers of common terns, and other seabirds include black guillemots and black-legged kittiwakes.
Rockabill Lighthouse is owned by the Commissioners of Irish Lights and is a Refuge for Fauna and a Special Protection Area under the European Union Birds Directive.