'Through Snow and Ice' .... An Post celebrates Ireland's Antarctic explorers in stamps

An Post has issued four stamps celebrating eight Irish men who played a significant role in the epic Antarctic expeditions of the 1800s and early 1900s.

Irish men were at the heart of the pioneering expeditions to Antarctica. County Kildare-born Ernest Shackleton and Tom Crean, from Annascaul, Co Kerry, are two of the better known explorers, and have achieved worldwide recognition for their bravery and perseverance.

The other six men featured on the stamps, five from Cork, are perhaps less well known but no less important in the contributions they made to Antarctic exploration. They include Edward Bransfield (from Ballincurra, Co Cork); Patrick Keohane (Courtmacsherry, Co Cork; Robert Forde (Bandon, Co Cork), brothers Mortimer and Tim McCarthy (Kinsale, Co Cork) and Francis Crozier (Banbridge, Co Down).

The four stamps, two for national postage and two for international, and a First Day Cover envelope are available at selected post offices and anpost.com/shop.

Leading Irish Illustrator David Rooney explained how he wanted the stamps to shine a light on the impact Irish men had on Antarctic exploration:

“Like most people I was aware of the Shackleton and Crean expeditions, it was fascinating to delve into the adventures of a figure like Francis Crozier, who set out in 1839 as commander of HMS Terror on the Ross expedition. Crozier, his ship and all of his crew were subsequently lost, along with Sir John Franklin, on their ill-fated search for the North West Passage in the Arctic just a few years later.”

An Post expects strong interest in the stamps at home and abroad from collectors and those with an interest in Explorers and Antarctic expeditions.

THE EXPLORERS

Sir Ernest Shackleton (Kildare)

A native of Kilkea, County Kildare, born Feb 15th, 1874, Sir Ernest Shackleton was an Antarctic Explorer who attempted to reach the South Pole, and is best known for the leading the expedition ‘Endurance’ of 1914-1916.

He joined the merchant navy when he was 16 and qualified as a master mariner in 1898. In 1901, he was chosen to go on an Antarctic expedition led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott on the ship ‘Discovery.’ During this expedition, they came closer to reaching the South Pole than anyone had come before, but Shackleton became seriously ill and had to return home. In 1908, he returned to the Antarctic as a leader of his own expedition, on a ship called Nimrod. His team came closer to reaching the South Pole than ever before, coming within 97 miles of it. He was knighted upon his return.

In 1914, he made his third trip to the Antarctic, leading an expedition aboard the ship Endurance. Early in 1915, Endurance became trapped in ice, and his crew abandoned the ship to live on the floating ice. In April 1916, the crew set off on 3 small boats, eventually reaching Elephant Island. Shackleton and 5 others – including Tom Crean - went to find help, a treacherous journey across the ocean to South Georgia. In August 1916, the remaining members of Endurance were rescued. Shackleton’s rendition of this journey was published in 1919 under the title ‘South.’

His 4th expedition aimed to circumnavigate the Antarctic ocean, aboard the ‘Quest’ but on the 5th of January 1922, he died of a heart attack. He was buried on the island of South Georgia – where his wife Emily said he was happiest.

Tom Crean (Kerry)

Tom Cream served on three of great Antarctic expeditions in the 20th Century. He was born on the 25th of February 1877 near Annascaul, Co. Kerry. He lived on a farm with his parents and 10 siblings, in poverty-stricken conditions.

At 15 he joined the Navy and by September 1899 he had made it to the rank of Petty Officer 2nd Class. Shortly afterward he was assigned to HMS Ringarooma, which operated on the Australian waters. The captain of this ship was asked to assist Robert Scott in readying his ship ‘Discovery’ for its Antarctic expedition, and due to the crew being a man short following an altercation, Tom Crean volunteered to take his place. On this journey, Crean established himself as one of the most reliable and valuable crew members, and Scott singled him out for a special mention, promoting him to Petty Officer 1st Class.

In June 1910, as a member of Scott’s team he embarked on the Terra Nova to finally reach the South Pole. Scott had always intended there to be a 4-man team to complete the final stage of the journey, and when they were 150 miles from the Pole, he ordered Crean and 2 others – Evans and Lashly - to turn back. On their journey back, Evans was struck down with scurvy, and instructed the other two men to leave him behind. They refused, and when it became too tough to carry him, Crean went to seek help, leaving Lashly to care for Evans in a tent. After 18 hours, he arrived at Hut Point and raised the alarm, resulting in Evans surviving and later dedicating his book ‘South with Scott’ to both Crean and Lashly.

Crean was also a member of the search party who, when Scott and his team had failed to return, went out on a rescue mission to find them. They were discovered dead and were buried by the team. The surviving members of the expedition arrived in New Zealand on the 12th of February 1913. Tom Crean was presented with a Polar Medal, as well as the Albert Medal, for his bravery in saving Lieutenant Evans.

Less than one year after the Terra Nova expedition, Crean embarked upon Ernest Shackleton’s Imperial Trans-Atlantic Expedition, on the Endurance, as a Second Officer. After being forced to leave their ship behind after it got stuck on ice, he was one of the key men in Shackleton’s crew in the fight for survival. He sailed to South Georgia in a group of 6 men and was one of 3 that crossed the island to seek help. In August, they finally managed to return to the remaining crew of the Endurance, who all returned home safely.

Outside of sailing and adventuring, Tom Crean married Ellen Herlihy in 1917, who was also from Annascaul. They had 3 children. He continued to serve in the Navy, the last ship he served on being the Hecla, where he suffered a serious fall, resulting in his retirement in 1920. He returned to Annascaul, where he opened a pub called The South Pole Inn. In 1938, he fell ill with suspected appendicitis, and died in July of that year, aged 61.

Edward Bransfield (Cork)

Edward Bransfield was born in Ballinacurra, near Midleton, Co Cork, in 1785. In the summer of 1803, he was press ganged into the Royal Navy by British Sailors and fought in the British war against Napoleon. He survived and rose through the ranks to eventually become Ship’s Master.

In 1819, Bransfield was asked to investigate a discovery made by Captain William Smith, who had stumbled across unchartered land upon his travels. Bransfield left Valparaiso, where he was stationed, on the 20th of December 1819, and took provisions for 12 months. The journey was in unknown waters and fog was a huge hindrance initially. On the 22nd of January 1820, Bransfield landed on what became known as King George Island and raised a flag on the Empire’s most southerly point. The next day, the first rock samples from the Antarctic were collected. They carried on, crossing what is now known as Bransfield Strait, and on the 30th of January 1820, they made the first sighting of the previously undiscovered Trinity Peninsula, the northernmost point of the Antarctic mainland.

They arrived back to Valparaiso in mid-April 1820, where they discovered a Russian navigator, Captain Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen was claiming he had sighted said land 3 days earlier. Due to Bellingshausen not distinguishing between ice and land, referring only to ‘continuous ice’ and ‘ice mountains’ in his notes, an incorrect translation of his journal and some confusion over dates of his observations, the argument as to who first sighted the Antarctic continues to this day.

Despite recording his sightings in explicit detail, unfortunately, the loss of documents and records of the expedition meant that Bransfield’s sighting of the Antarctic relied on a few remaining charts and magazine articles. It was not until 1840 that Antarctica was officially declared a continent.

Little is known about Bransfield’s later life. He married three times, settling on the south coast of England and worked as a merchant mariner. He died in 1852 at the age of 67. No photo or portrait exists of him. His discovery began an era of Antarctic exploration, with attempts to reach the South Pole and explore Antarctica being made by the likes of Tom Crean, Ernest Shackleton and Robert Scott.

Patrick Keohane (Cork)

Described as the forgotten Irishman of Antarctic exploration, Patrick Keohane was born in 1879 in Courtmacsherry, Co Cork. He enlisted in the Royal Navy when he was 16 and rose through the ranks to eventually become Petty Officer. In 1910, he was chosen to be a part of Robert Scott’s team for his South Pole expedition on the Terra Nova. He was one of 4 Irishmen on the expedition and was noted in Scott’s diaries, whom he shared a tent with, as having good cheer and courage.

He was one of 15 chosen by Scott to accompany him from their base at Cape Evans to the South Pole, a 900-mile trek. When their ponies had to be shot, Keohane was one of the team that hauled the sleds across the ice. However, in December 1911, he was included in the first support party told to return to base when they were 350 miles from the South Pole. It was a decision he was disappointed with, but that would eventually save his life.

Keohane made it back to Hut Point – their base – in January 1912, and in March 1912, was part of the search party who went out to look for Scott and his team. They only made it 60 miles when they had to turn back because of weather. He was a part of another search party who, on the 12th November 1912, found the bodies of Scott, Bowers and Wilson. Scott and his team had reached the South Pole on January 16th 1912, but had discovered they had been beaten in the race by Norwegian Roald Amundsen. They had died on their return journey. Keohane and the remaining men erected a cross in the snow, in memory of their fallen teammates.

After life as an Antarctic explorer, Keohane returned to Cork and married a local girl, Bridget Mary Ivy O’Driscoll in May 1914. They moved to England, and he died in Plymouth in 1950.

Robert Forde (Cork)

Robert Forde was born near Bandon, Co Cork in August 1875. When he was 16 he joined the Royal Navy and rose through the ranks to eventually earn the title of Petty Officer First Class.

In 1910, he joined Robert F Scott’s Terra Nova expedition to Antarctica – one of a number of Irish men, including Tom Crean and Patrick Keohane. On the expedition, Forde took part in depot laying missions, worked with the surveying teams and studied glaciers. During one of these expeditions, he suffered severe frostbite and was sent home. He continued to wear a glove on his hand for most of his life, such was the severity of his injury.

After being sent home, he returned to the Navy, serving in World War 1. Upon retirement, he returned to Cobh in Co Cork, where he died on the 13th March 1959, aged 83. A memorial was erected in his honour in Cobh, for his contribution to Antarctic exploration. He is also remembered by the naming of Mount Forde, a mountain in Antarctica standing at over 1,200 metres.

Mortimer and Tim McCarthy (Cork)

Mortimer (Murt) and Tim McCarthy were born in 1882 and 1888, respectively, into a fishing family, and were from Kinsale in Co Cork.

Mortimer McCarthy, nicknamed Murt, joined the Royal Navy at 12. In 1910, he volunteered to join Robert Scott on his Terra Nova expedition to the Antarctic. He received a Silver Polar Medal for this. He made 3 round trips to the Antarctic in his life and a mountain in Antarctica is named after him. He continued to work on ships into his 80s. In 1963, he made a final trip to Antarctica as one of the three living survivors of Scott’s original Antarctic expedition. he became the oldest person to ever visit the South Pole. He settled in New Zealand, and died there in 1967, aged 85.

Tim McCarthy was a merchant seaman who joined Ernest Shackleton’s Imperial Trans Antarctic expedition on the Endurance. He was one of the six men, along with Shackleton and Tom Crean, who travelled to South George Island on treacherous waters in the James Caird – a lifeboat - to get help for the rest of the crew on Elephant Island. Once they reached South George Island, McCarthy remained with 2 of the crew while the others went for help. They were successful and the remaining members of the crew on Elephant Island were rescued.

After this expedition, Tim went back to sea to fight in World War 1. He was killed while serving aboard the SS Narragansett, when it was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U44 in 1917. He was 28 years old. His brother collected his Bronze Polar Medal on his behalf.

A joint bust of Tim and Mortimer was unveiled in Kinsale in September 2000.

Francis Crozier (Down)

Francis Rawdon Moira Crozier was from Banbridge in Co Down, born in 1796. He joined the Navy at 13 and worked his way up the ranks from cabin boy to Captain.

He was involved with 3 major discoveries of the 19th Century – navigating the North West passage, finding the North Pole and mapping the Antarctic. He participated in 6 expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic. However, unlike other explorers to emerge from this time, he was given little to no recognition for his endeavours, and was not knighted.

His first expedition was in 1821, when he joined Captain William Parry in his bid to find the North West Passage – this trip lasted over two years, but was unsuccessful. He had two further trips with Parry, to the Arctic and North Pole respectively, but both were unsuccessful. He then went North in 1836 with James Ross to search for whaling ships trapped in the ice of Baffin Bay.

His next endeavour was the four year journey he undertook in 1839 with James Ross (Ross captaining the Erebus and Crozier second in command upon the Terror) to explore the Antarctic continent. Here they penetrated the Antarctic pack ice and discovered large parts of the continent, including Mount Erebus and Mount Terror (volcanoes), McMurdo Sound, the Ross Sea and the Ross Ice Shelf – discoveries that became closely associated with the exploration conducted by the likes of Tom Crean, Robert F Scott and Ernest Shackleton years later.

In the summer of 1845, Sir John Franklin embarked upon the expedition to navigate the North West Passage. Crozier agreed to serve as second in command and captain of the Terror, despite arguably being the more experienced sailor. It is thought that he did this in the hopes on winning the favour of Franklin’s niece, Sophy Cracroft, who turned down several of his proposals. After Franklin’s death in 1847, Crozier took over as captain, however, none of the 129 strong crew survived. The ship got stuck in ice and the crew were forced to abandon it and walk on foot through the ice, eventually all perishing – it is thought Crozier was one of the last to die. Their fate remained a mystery until a letter was discovered in 1859 on King William Island, written by Crozier, explaining what had happened.

Friends and relatives erected a monument outside his old home in Banbridge.

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