Tom Crean – Antarctic Explorer

Jockser

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Aidan Dooley’s one-man show, which has been mentioned here before, was due to have a run in a few theatres but the recent lockdown put paid to that. Although I’ve seen it a couple of times previously I had hoped to see it again in Portlaoise. It really is that good. Even if you’re not a dyed-in the-wool Crean or Shackleton fan I defy you not to find it well worth seeing

Obviously, that would appear to be a non-starter right now. However, Riverbank Theatre in Newbridge is staging an online production. So no matter where you live you can see it in the comfort of your own living room, assuming you’re not totally fed up of the place by now, and even have a takeaway & a few beers...

Thursday 18th February, 2021 - 19:00 -
https://www.riverbank.ie/event/online-theatre-tom-crean-antarctic-explorer/
 
The book is a fantastic read, he lived 10 men’s lives. True Unsung Hero!!
 
For Our Honeymoon I managed to convince Max that we should do the North Pole to the South pole :aidan

Sadly I included the Ravine hotel Lisdoonvarna which was a Schithole!!:mad:

and we left it before we even unpacked our bags and made it to the Travel Lodge?? at the West of Tralee

And we were out at Tom Creans Pub The South Pole Inn Annascaul next morning sadly before the pub opened and with a long drive home we headed on home

Also Nice to see recognition

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/sci...-after-antarctic-explorer-tom-crean-1.4474119
 
I was first made aware of him after seeing this documentary.
Hardship, tenacity, balls of steel doesn't come close.

Fittingly narrated by an Irishman ....

 
Thanks for the link, I've been meaning to see it for years :)
 

Thanks for posting that up - I auditioned for that advert many years ago but I’ve never seen it. It was for cinema release only, I was told, and it never came up whenever I went to the ‘flix’

He was a very quiet and unassuming man, he told almost no one of his achievements so none of the drinkers in his pub knew.
I have found it a natural trait for tough Irish men to be so in general. However, I wonder if the fact that he was in the English military had an influence. My father joined the English army to escape the arduous life of rural Ireland in the 1940s and didn’t ‘go home’ till much later on in life due to any animosity whether real or imagined.
It’s a further tribute, I feel, to Crean’s amazing personality that he chose to go back to Ireland and live out a normal, almost anonymous life - he could have been a celebrity in England.

I also wonder if Scott would have survived if he had taken Crean - they weren’t far from base.
 
...He was a very quiet and unassuming man, he told almost no one of his achievements so none of the drinkers in his pub knew.
I have found it a natural trait for tough Irish men to be so in general. However, I wonder if the fact that he was in the English military had an influence. .....I also wonder if Scott would have survived if he had taken Crean - they weren’t far from base.

Tom's brother Cornelius was an RIC man & lost his life in a republican ambush - I'd never doubt Tom's bravery but he choose to keep his head down for good reasons & indeed innate self effacing modesty played a role. I also speculate if Tom could have swung it Scott's way - we'll never know.
I crossed S Georgia some years ago in homage to Tom & Ernest.
Thanks J for the heads up.
 
Tom's brother Cornelius was an RIC man & lost his life in a republican ambush - I'd never doubt Tom's bravery but he choose to keep his head down for good reasons & indeed innate self effacing modesty played a role. I also speculate if Tom could have swung it Scott's way - we'll never know.
I crossed S Georgia some years ago in homage to Tom & Ernest.
Thanks J for the heads up.

That's at info Gerry. :beerjug:

The English in particular have always been eager to adopt and elevate heroes when it suits, if not the 'defeat' of the Ammada etc. then Scott's desperate failure fitted the bill perfectly.
Yes it's interesting to speculate if one man, even of Tom Crean's calibre would have been enough to have changed history in this respect given.
As you know, they unlike Amundsen, were also undertaking time and resource sapping scientific work along the way, their mental state may not have been what it could have been given a straight push for the pole, of course their initial mode of transport, other factors including bad luck with the timing of hitting bad weather at crucial moments. I'm sure you're right though, with a man like Tom Crean on board .....we'll never know.
 
Tom's brother Cornelius was an RIC man & lost his life in a republican ambush - I'd never doubt Tom's bravery but he choose to keep his head down for good reasons & indeed innate self effacing modesty played a role. I also speculate if Tom could have swung it Scott's way - we'll never know.
I crossed S Georgia some years ago in homage to Tom & Ernest.
Thanks J for the heads up.

Interesting, thanks
 
The English in particular have always been eager to adopt and elevate heroes when it suits,
.............Scott's desperate failure fitted the bill perfectly.....

Like Bono :aidan

I buy the Roland Huntford narrative - Scott was not a great leader - like Bono. :aidan :aidan

Bono for the South Pole :aidan :aidan :aidan
 
His pub in Kerry is a cracking spot to set up camp and enjoy a nice dinner and beer
 
His pub in Kerry is a cracking spot to set up camp and enjoy a nice dinner and beer

Indeed ...

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:beerjug:
 
:) .....
 

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In case the photo causes some puzzlement:

The €25m vessel has been commissioned by the Marine Institute and will replace the current research vessel, the Celtic Voyager.
RV Tom Crean has been designed by a Norwegian firm and is currently under construction in northern Spain.
The new 52.8 metre ship will be based in Galway and will engage in important fisheries and oceanographic and environmental research.

https://www.rte.ie/news/munster/2021/0201/1194408-tom-crean/
 


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