Antartic experience and Shackleton ancestors mark Athy's Autumn School
Dr Cathal Berry, Kevin Kenny, Conor Forrest and Brian O'Gorman
THE weekend of the 7-9 November saw Athy host the 24th Shackleton Autumn School that saw everything from three actual Shackletons, the Norwegian Ambassador, a -30ºC Antarctic experience, and for the very hardy, a dip in the River Greise where the explorer himself learnt to swim.
This year saw “a record attendance”, according to the Director of the Shackleton Museum Kevin Kenny, and the weekend was opened by the Chair of the Museum, former CEO of Kildare County Council Peter Carey.
Dignitaries included the Ambassador of Norway Aslak Brun, Shackleton’s grand-daughter, and great-grandson, Alexandra Shackleton and her son Peter Bergel, while visitors came from Australia, Brazil, the US, Canada, Norway, Germany and the UK.
On Friday morning, the sculptor of the Shackleton statue Mark Richards did a masterclass with the Leaving Certificate art students from Ardscoil na Tríonóide, while Philip Curtis of the Map House from London did the same for the geography class for the mapping of Antarctica.
Meanwhile, the 3rd class from Scoil Mhicil Naofa learnt how to be polar explorers – and even had a refrigerated container there to experience the -30ºC conditions – if only for a short time!
Over the weekend there were a range of activities for the visitors, including a guided tour of medieval Athy, a bus tour of the Shackleton country of Ballitore and Kilkea led by Sharon Green, and a Fitstix-inspired ‘Pole to Pole’ walk, along the Blueway.
Cavan-based cousin Jonathan Shackleton led some hardy dippers for the Greise swim, with access to the site courtesy of the owners of Moone Abbey Karl and Jenny Matuska.
The weekend closed with a showing in the Abbey Hotel of the recent National Geographic documentary about the discovery of Shackleton’s ship ‘Endurance’ in March 2022, with a talk after by its producer Ruth Johnstone.
In a legendary feat of leadership and perseverance, polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton kept his crew of 27 men alive for over a year despite the loss of their ship in frigid pack ice. Over a century later, a team of modern-day explorers led by Dr John Shears found the remains of the Endurance in 3,000m of Antarctic waters.
Now all eyes look forward to the school’s Silver Jubilee next year.
