Annascaul is a tiny village with many very brightly painted houses and pubs, and known for its Tom Crean legacy.

Crean (1877 – 1938) was born near Annasaul and distinguished himself in Sir Robert Scott’s two Antarctic expeditions ( 1901-04 and 1912). He was a seaman and volunteered to join Scott’s first expedition when he was in New Zealand where Scott was refitting his ship on the way to Antarctica. He was a heroic member of Ernest Shackleton’s expedition to Antarctica in 1914 -1916.

In January 1915 Shackleton’s expedition ship Endurance became trapped in ice and later was crushed and sank. The crew camped on the ice until April 1916 when they made a seven day journey in three life boats to Elephant Island. There was little chance of being rescued from here as the island was far outside shipping channels. Shackleton and five others, including Crean, used one of the boats (the James Caird) to make a sixteen day 1500 km voyage to South Georgia where there was a whaling station. Eventually in August 1916 Shackleton returned to Elephant Island to rescue all the crew.

Crean served in the navy until the end of WW1 and then returned to Annascaul, married and opened the South Pole Inn. And that is where this evening we had dinner and a Guinness in his honour.