Next weekend, for the fifth time, I will be attending the Ernest Shackleton Autumn School in Athy, Co Kildare. I wonder what EHS himself - the H stands for Henry - would have thought about the get-up in the town at this time of year, with flags flying and banners across the front of the castle - and now a permanent exhibition dedicated to him in the Heritage Centre, asks Arthur Dunne.
Naturally EHS and his adventures, firstly with Captain Scott and then on his own three expeditions to the Antarctic, take centre stage - including, of course, his heroic sea adventure in the 22ft ship's boat James Caird through 800 miles of the most violent seas to rescue the stranded crew of his ship Endurance, who were left marooned on Elephant Island after the ship was crushed by ice.
His life is an encouragement to all in his way of dealing with overwhelming odds. His story is now used in man-management seminars because of his ability to get on with everyone including his subordinates, his ability to delegate when necessary and to issue orders without fear or favour, his recognition of the common good and his habit of returning to port after the most hazardous of journeys without losing a single crew member - quite unusual for the time.
His love of taking risks may well have been inherited. Ernest's father Henry married in 1872 and he and his new bride began their married life in Kilkea House, close to Athy. Ernest was their second child, born in 1874. Farming was the family mainstay, with the land being leased from the Duke of Leinster. The children enjoyed an outdoor life and both parents encouraged them to speak for themselves and also helped them develop their own personalities (pretty important if you were destined to have nine other siblings).
However, agriculture in Ireland, as elsewhere, was going through tumultuous times and prices in the local markets were falling constantly, so eventually Henry and his family moved to Marlborough Road in Dublin. Theirs was a fairly new house near Donnybrook village, within walking distance
of St Stephen's Green (a commemorative plaque on No 35 was unveiled in the year 2000 by Alexandra Shackleton, Ernest's only granddaughter). What Henry did next must have deeply impressed his family or perhaps worried them sick.
Throwing caution to the winds, he enrolled in Trinity College and began to study medicine at the age of 33. He qualified four years later, taking both an MB and MD with distinction.
After much discussion Henry and his wife Henrietta decided, like many another at the time, that there were better career prospects in London, so the family of 12 set sail on a ferry called The Banshee from Kingstown across to Holyhead and thence by train to London. They first lived in Croydon but later moved to Sydenham, where Ernest's father set up in business as a general practitioner, in which profession he continued for the next 30 odd years. Ernest's taste for travel and visiting exotic lands probably began with the periodicals of the day, such as the Boys' Own Paper, with their true adventure stories. Also, when he was still quite young, on visiting relations in Co Kildare be became intrigued by seeing the skin of a penguin for the first time.
His introduction to seafaring life began at 16, when he joined the Merchant Navy and found his first berth as ship's boy on a sailing ship leaving Liverpool for Valparaiso in Chile. He returned almost a year later to the great enthusiasm of his parents, sisters and brother. His sea voyages continued and the young Ernest took the first of his examinations as second mate and eventually received his master's certificate at the age of 24.
At the time of the new millennium there was great enthusiasm for polar exploration and the British establishment was anxious that new discoveries of marine routes, and of course the continuing Antarctic explorations, would fall to British interests. So Captain Scott was encouraged in 1901 to take on the challenge of going farther south with the hope he would eventually reach the South Pole. Included in his crew on this voyage was Ernest Shackleton and a man who later accompanied Ernest on his three epic expeditions, Tom Crean of Annascaul.
All of which leads back to the Shackleton Autumn School in Athy and the accompanying permanent exhibition of all aspects of life in the southern continent, together with material on the Great War, the Grand Canal and the Gordon Bennett Trophy race. If, like me, you would like to know a little more about the Irish contribution to the extraordinary accomplishments of the age of exploration, you can download the details of the Shackleton school, the lectures, the discussions, forums, film and drama at www.athyheritagecentre-museum.ie or telephone 059- 8633075. The school opens next Friday, October 26th and runs until Monday 29th.