EXPLORE
• Special Exhibition Gallery
• Audio Visual Room
• Museum Gallery
- Tom Crean Room
• Knight’s Hall
• Medieval Experience
• Special Exhibition Gallery
• Audio Visual Room
• Museum Gallery
- Tom Crean Room
• Knight’s Hall
• Medieval Experience
Tom Crean RoomTom Crean, born in Annascaul on 20 July 1877, enlisted in the Royal Navy on 10 July 1893. In 1901 he went to Antarctica for the first time on the Discovery expedition, led by Captain Scott. He joined the Terra Nova expedition in 1910, again led by Scott. In 1912 Scott and four companions died on the return journey from the South Pole. Crean was part of the last support party for Scott, and he received the Albert Medal for saving the life of Lt Teddy Evans. He joined the Endurance expedition, led by Sir Ernest Shackleton, in 1914. The ship was trapped in the ice in January 1915, and the men had to take to the lifeboats, eventually reaching Elephant Island. Shackleton and five men, including Tom Crean survived an 800 mile journey across the Southern Ocean in the twenty foot James Caird to fetch help in South Georgia. Tom Crean served in World War One and retired from the Navy in 1920. He returned to Annascaul, and opened a public house, which he called ‘The South Pole Inn’. He died in 1938.
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