Ernest Shackleton (1874-1922)

Ernest Shackleton (1874-1922)

Ernest Shackleton was a world famous explorer. He was born in Co. Kildare and educated in England.

Courtesy of the National Science & Engineering Plaques Committee

Ernest Shackleton (1874-1922)
Courtesy of the National Science & Engineering Plaques Committee

Ernest Shackleton (1874-1922)

Ernest Shackleton was a world famous explorer. He was born in Co. Kildare and educated in England.

Courtesy of the National Science & Engineering Plaques Committee

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Ernest Shackleton was born in Ballitore, Co. Kildare in 1874. When he was eleven years old, his family moved to England. Ernest left school at sixteen and joined the Merchant Navy. He did well in the Navy, earning a number of promotions, but left after ten years to join the explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott on his attempt to be the first person to reach the South Pole. The attempt failed.

Inspired by his experience on the Scott expedition, Shackleton decided he would put together his own expedition and try and reach the South Pole. In 1906, his expedition got closer than anyone else, and he returned a hero.

In March 1914, Shackleton set out to cross Antarctica via the South Pole. His ship, the Endurance, became trapped in ice in the Weddell Sea, and drifted for ten months, before being crushed by ice in October 1915. Shackleton and his crew of 28 men spent five months drifting on an iceberg before reaching Elephant Island in 1916.

Shackleton, with five men, set off on an 800-mile journey in a small boat, to South Georgia in order to get help to rescue the crew. The mountains of South Georgia had to be crossed on foot to reach the whaling station on the far side of the island. After three unsuccessful attempts to rescue his men, the fourth attempt was successful.

On returning to England, he went as an army officer to Northern Russia to serve in the war effort. In 1921, he set out on another Antarctic expedition, but died of a heart attack on South Georgia, where he is buried.