ON IRISH WATERS with Alison Alderton 105
www.towpathtalk.co.uk
Ireland’s Antarctic connections
Alison Alderton discovers
the Irish Polar explorers…
and a ghostly reminder.
DESPITE Ireland’s generally mild winter
climate the country has produced
a remarkably large number of Polar
explorers. Many originate from the south
where strong traditions of boating and
seafaring are common, skills essential
for icy exploration.
Born in 1785, Edward Bransfield
hailed from Ballinacurra, Cork, which
prospered with barges transporting
cargoes of coal, flax, timber and iron. A
small fleet of fishing boats also occupied
the harbour; one operated by his father.
It was while out fishing that Bransfield
was picked up by a press gang for the
British Navy fighting the Napoleonic
Wars. He became an accomplished
navigator and master seaman, making
the earliest sighting of the then
undiscovered continent of Antarctica.
Francis Crozier (1795-1848) from
Banbridge, in Northern Ireland,
undertook six journeys to the Arctic and
Antarctic during a naval career spanning
almost 40 years. He was the first to map
large areas of the surrounding sea and
land mass of Antarctica. Crozier and
his crew vanished during the disastrous
Franklin Expedition to find the elusive
Northwest Passage. Their fate remained
a mystery for more than 10 years until
one of the two missing ships was
discovered. Inside, a note read how
Shackleton’s bronze statue in
Athy. PHOTO SUPPLIED
Bronze statue
Thomas Crean with his arms full
of sleigh dogs.PHOTOS: WIKIMEDIA
COMMONS UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED
The South Pole Inn at Anascaul.
the ships had become stuck in ice and
abandoned. Crozier had unsuccessfully
attempted to lead his crew to safety.
Thomas Crean (1877-1938) came from
Kerry where his parents had a humble
smallholding on the Dingle Peninsula.
At 16, he enlisted in the Royal Navy,
developing his seafaring abilities to
become a Petty Officer serving on the
Discovery during the British National
Antarctic Expedition of 1902. After Crean
retired, he opened a bar in Anascaul
named The South Pole Inn which
remains open to this day.
Brothers Mortimer and Tim McCarthy,
from Kinsale, both set out to sea early
to seek better lives for themselves. At
the age of 12, Mortimer began working
on ships. In 1963, at the age of 81, he
became the oldest man to ever set foot
on Antarctica when he returned with an
American expedition. His brother Tim
served on one of the greatest Antarctic
expeditions where his expertise with
small boats proved invaluable during a
desperate rescue mission.
The Endurance trapped in ice.
A model of the Endurance in Athy. PHOTO SUPPLIED
Kevin Kenny and Craig Blackwell with James Caird 100.
PHOTO SUPPLIED
Epic survival
These and many other of Ireland’s Polar
explorers faded into obscurity with the
exception of one, Ernest Shackleton. Now
recognised as one of the world’s greatest
explorers,he was born near Athy in 1874.
He lived there until at age six his family
moved to Dublin, then four years later to
London. He began his career on Hoghton
Tower, a square-rigged clipper of the
White Star Line sailing around Cape
Horn to Valparaiso in Chile. He went on
to make four voyages to the Antarctic.
One hundred years ago, an epic
survival story was unfolding in the
frozen Antarctic. Ernest Shackleton’s
ship Endurance had been trapped by ice,
crushed and sunk, leaving the 28 crew to
drift helplessly on the floating ice. But
Shackleton was no ordinary leader – he
was extraordinary, managing to lead the
crew through overwhelming obstacles,
ensuring that in the midst of the most
inhospitable environment they all got
home safely.
A central part of the survival story
was the 800-mile voyage of the ship’s
lifeboat, James Caird, across the wild
South Atlantic Ocean to organise the
Launching the James Caird.
James Caird 100 on the Barrow. PHOTO SUPPLIED
Ernest Shackleton.
rescue of the remaining crew. The
six-man rescue crew comprised; Ernest
Shackleton, Frank Worsley, Tom Crean,
Tim McCarthy, Henry ‘Chippy’ McNish
and John Vincent.
In celebration of this momentous
voyage a ghostly apparition has been
appearing and disappearing on the
waterways during recent months.
Project manager, Kevin Kenny, spoke
exclusively to Towpath Talk about this
exciting new piece of artwork:
“The James Caird 100 was developed
by sculptor Craig Blackwell and myself.
It is a dynamic sculpture to spread
awareness of Shackleton’s Endurance
expedition and its epic survival story.
The boat arrives in a waterways
location unannounced, where it
remains for a while, before mysteriously
disappearing to another location.
Minimal information is supplied; the
main route of information is driven by
people’s inquisitiveness, internet and
social media.”
“James Caird 100 is primarily an arts
installation. We started out thinking
about a replica, but for reasons of cost
and practicality, that approach was ruled
out. We needed something portable and
robust which could be left unattended so
a wooden boat was a non-starter.”
“Although two-thirds size, in terms of
mast, covered deck and general shape it’s
reasonably accurate. The original James
Caird didn’t have a flat transom, but the
other two boats which participated in
stages of the Endurance survival story
did. These boats, Dudley Docker and
Stancombe Wills, were upturned on
Elephant Island to form a rudimentary
hut in which 22 lived while the others
made the voyage to South Georgia.
“They deserve to be recalled and are
referred to in the hull shape of James
Caird 100. The real eye catcher and what
differentiates the James Caird 100 is the
crew whose ghostly presence picks up
on the epic event itself. Both Shackleton
and Worsley record their certainty of an
unseen hand guiding the boat.”
To further celebrate the event, on August
30, 2016, the centenary of the rescue of
the crew from Elephant Island, Ernest
Shackleton’s granddaughter, Alexandra
unveiled a new bronze statue in Athy.
The ceremony was attended by the Mayor
of Kildare, Coun Ivan Keatley, and an
honour guard drawn from the Irish Naval
Service. Looking south, across the point
where the Grand Canal meets the River
Barrow, this is an important addition to
the heritage of the town and will add to
the attractions for those boating on or
walking alongside the Barrow.
Ireland continues to contribute to the
cold hostile environment of the world.
Among this extraordinary group of
people is Clare O’Leary, a doctor from
Brandon, who in 2008 became the first
Irishwoman to walk to the South Pole.
For us more ordinary folk it will soon be
time to snuggle up in front of our stoves.
As winter creeps in and begins to take
hold, let’s be thankful temperatures
don’t plummet to the unimaginable lows
that these brave boatmen and explorers
endured and if we do find ourselves
iced-in, we won’t have too long to wait
for a thaw!
➔ Useful information
Profile of the James Caird 100
project and a link to the Facebook
page are available on:
www.jamescaird100.org
As well as this project, the Athy
Shackleton Committee has a full
programme of outreach activities
to raise awareness of Shackleton’s
achievements and Ireland’s role in
Polar exploration. These include the
annual Shackleton Autumn School,
Shackleton’s Endurance CD and
stage performance, the Shackleton
Challenge Schools teamwork/project
programme, leading the movement
for Ireland to accede to the
Antarctic Treaty and the continuing
development of a museum in the
Heritage Centre in Athy:
www.athyheritagecentre-museum.ie
www.shackletonmuseum.com
Waterways Ireland and Kildare
County Council are among the main
sponsors of this project while Christy
Kane of the Barrow Executive has
played a key role in finding suitable
locations for the boat. If you know of
other locations or would like to see
the James Caird 100 on a waterway
near you, please contact the project
organisers via the website.
Further reading and reference
material:
Great Endeavour: Ireland’s Antarctic
Explorers – Michael Smith
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to Kevin Kenny
of the James Caird 100 project,
Christy Kane of the Barrow
Executive and Margaret Walsh
of the Athy Heritage CentreMuseum for their input and use
of photographic images with
this article.