The Shackleton's of Kildare
The Shackleton family’s roots in County Kildare stretch back long before Ernest’s expeditions to Antarctica.
They were closely associated with Ballitore, just a few miles from Burtown, which developed during the eighteenth century as one of Ireland’s most important Quaker settlements.
It was here, amongst a close network of Quaker families, schools, farms and businesses, that generations of Shackletons lived and worked.
Their influence extended well beyond Ballitore, and connections between the Shackleton family and Burtown would eventually become part of the history of both places.
Ernest Shackleton
Ernest Henry Shackleton was born at Kilkea House, County Kildare, in 1874.
He would go on to become one of the defining figures of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, taking part in several major expeditions to the continent and eventually leading three of his own.
His most famous expedition began in 1914 aboard Endurance.
When the ship became trapped and was eventually crushed by Antarctic pack ice, Shackleton and his crew were left stranded. What followed became one of the great stories of survival and leadership — culminating in Shackleton’s extraordinary open-boat journey across the Southern Ocean to South Georgia.
Every member of the Endurance expedition survived.
Today Shackleton is remembered as much for his leadership, resilience and responsibility towards his men as for the expeditions themselves.
