Ireland and the Antarctic Treaty and the conservation of Ernest Shackleton’s Quest ship’s cabin in Connemara’s Letterfrack are among topics for this year’s Shackleton autumn school which takes place online on Saturday (Oct 31).
“Virtually Shackleton” is hosted online by the Shackleton Museum Athy, Co Kildare from 10.30 am on Saturday.
Conservation Letterfrack’s Sven Habbermann, who is working on the Quest cabin in which Shackleton spent his last hours, and Prof Aidan O’Sullivan of University College Dublin are among the first speakers.
Artist Pauline Garavan will speak about her art piece on the Endurance, and a guided tour of the Fram, the hip that was used in expeditions of the Arctic and Antarctic regions by the Norwegian explorers Fridtjof Nansen, will be given by Geir Kløver, director of the Fram museum in Oslo, Norway.
Dr Juliana Adelman will speak about the making of the successful Shackleton podcasts for the Athy museum, and Minister of State for Heritage Malcolm Noonan will participate in a discussion on Saturday afternoon on Ireland and the Antarctic Treaty with Bob Headland of Britain’s Scott Polar Research Institute.
A full programme is below, and registration for the free series of events is here
Virtually Shackleton agenda, October 31st 2020
- 10:30 – 10:35 Opening of Virtually Shackleton 2020 from the Shackleton Museum, Athy, Co. Kildare, Ireland.
- 10:35 – 11:20 “First appearances – the conservation of Ernest Shackleton’s Quest cabin”. Sven Habermann, Conservation Letterfrack.
- 11:30 – 11:55 “Inuit, Irish and Norse: the earliest explorers of the North Atlantic”. Prof. Aidan O’Sullivan, University College Dublin.
- 12:05 – 12:30 “Pauline Garavan speaks about her Endurance art piece”. Artist, Pauline Garavan.
- 12:40 – 13:05 “Norwegian Wood – Guided tour of Fram followed by Q&A”. Geir Kløver, Director, The Fram Museum, Oslo, Norway.
- Lunch: ICEBREAKER session will run during lunchtime streaming videos connected with the work of the Shackleton Autumn School.
- 1) David Butler on illustrating the ‘James Caird’ voyage;
- 2) South Georgia by kayak, 2019;
- 14:00 – 14:25 “The Boss in Bronze: sculptor Mark Richards on his work and creating the Athy Shackleton statue”. Sculptor Mark Richards in conversation with Kildare County Council Arts Officer, Lucina Russell.
- 14:35 – 15:05 “Trick or Treaty: Ireland and the Antarctic Treaty, a discussion”. Minister of State, Malcolm Noonan in conversation with Bob Headland, Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge, UK.
- 15:15 – 15:45 “The use of ponies in Antarctica: Was it a silly idea?” A lecture by Antarctic historian Bob Burton.
- 16:00 – 16:20 “Stream it like you mean it, the background to the making of the successful podcast ‘What would Shackleton do?’”. Interview with Dr Juliana Adelman, Dublin City University and John Carty (actor). (visit www.shackletonmuseum.com/audio-visual/ for podcast).
- 16:30 – 16:55 “The Great Escape. Jim McAdam’s account of exiting the Falklands and southern Patagonia just as lockdown hit”. Dr Jim McAdam, Shackleton Museum, Athy, & Queens University, Belfast.
- 17:05 – 17:25 “Falkland Islands calling - Presentation on Shackleton, the Falkland Islands and its museum connection with the Shackleton Museum”. Falklands Museum staff & Shackleton Museum.
- 17:25 Close of Virtually Shackleton 2020.
- 17:30 – 18:00 Zoom session continues in O’Briens.
- 20:00 – 21:05 Shackleton’s Endurance: online streaming of the premiere performance from Carlow, Ireland, October 2014 (narration, music, visuals).
