The 7th Annual Ernest Shackleton Autumn School
The Athy Heritage Centre-Museum has established the Ernest Shackleton Autumn School to celebrate the life and work of the great Antarctic explorer in the area of his birth.
Friday 26th October
Official Opening and Shackleton Memorial Lecture by Kevin Myers.
7.00pm in Athy Heritage Centre – Museum
Kevin Myers
Kevin Myers, writer, broadcaster and novelist is a Irishman who grew up England. For over 25 years he wrote the celebrated and provocative ‘Irishman’s Diary’ in the Irish Times. He recently published “Watching the Door – a Memoir 1971-78”, an account of his years working in Belfast for RTE.
He is now a columnist with the Irish Independent
Official launch of ‘Nimrod’
‘Nimrod’ the Journal of the Ernest Shackleton Autumn School. The first issue of the new annual publication of the Autumn School
Saturday 27th October – Lecture Series
Athy Heritage Centre-Museum
10.30am “Polar Photography”
Martin Hartley – Admission €5
12 Noon “Nimrod and the Shackleton Centenary Expedition”
Will Gow – Admission €5
12.45pm “Questions and Answers Session”
Alexandra Shackleton – Admission Free
2.30pm “Captain Scott- The Explorer as Hero”
Max Jones – Admission €5
4.00pm “Biographical Dictionary of an Uninhabited Island”
David Tatham – Admission €5
Saturday 27th October
Dinner 8.00pm- Clanard Court Hotel
Autumn School Dinner- Admission €35
Sunday 28th October
Lecture Series- Athy Heritage Centre-Museum
10.00am “Rescued by Penguins” – The unsung role of Penguins in Antarctic Exploration
Robert Burton – Admission €5
11.00am “Tin Cans and Auroras” – Conserving Antarctica’s Heroic Age of Exploration
Nicola Dunn – Admission €5
12 noon “The Poles and the Planet”
Dr. Rhian Salmon – Admission €5
4.30pm Open Forum
Chaired by Bob Headland – Admission Free
Sunday 28th October
Film – Athy Heritage Centre-Museum
2.30pm “Antarctic Journal”
Released in 2005, this South Korean production is a psychological thriller about an expedition trekking across the Antarctic to the Pole of Inaccessibility. When a journal from the British expedition of 80 years earlier is discovered, similarities with the British journey are noticed. The film is shown with English subtitles.
Admission €5
Sunday 28th October – Drama
Athy Library
9.00pm “Myth and Mask”
A showcase of non-stop poetry and music featuring the work of Irish writers and poets such as Heaney, Montague, Longley, Carson and Kavanagh
The Armagh Rhymers – Admission €10
Monday 29th October – Field Trip
Assemble at Athy Heritage Centre-Museum
10.00am Bus tour to Shackleton country
A visit to Ballitore and the home of Mary Shackleton-Leadbeater, writer and ancestor of Ernest Shackleton, the Quaker Meeting House and the Shaker Store.
Admission €5
Thanks
The Heritage Centre – Museum and its Shackleton festival team would like to thank our funding bodies and sponsors whose support makes this event possible. These include Fáilte Ireland, Irish and European Properties Ltd., Diageo Ireland, Athy Town Council, Kildare County Council, Athy Chamber of Commerce, Allied Irish Banks, Bank of Ireland, Athy.
A special thanks to Athy Library for their support and help