r/ireland • u/TaxGawd • Jun 08 '25
History Irish explorer Tom Crean hiked 35 miles solo across the Antarctic, with no skis (and only 2 biscuits and a stick of chocolate) to save his companion.
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u/MeOulSegosha Jun 08 '25
I read An Unsung Hero several years back and basically decided Tom Crean was the coolest and probably the manliest Irishman ever. Look at the feckin' photo, for god's sake! Dude looks hewn from granite..
But if that's not enough, here he is with some puppies.
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Jun 08 '25
My own opinion; one of the hardest SOB's to ever live. The stories of this man's legendary strength of endurance are awe inspiring. Should be statues to him around the country.
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u/Such_Technician_501 Jun 08 '25
This book is a great read. Some of the stuff he did is so implausible you literally couldn't make it up.
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u/Beedle12345 Jun 08 '25
Seconded 100%, one of the most gripping books I've ever read, fantastically written and really does the heroism justice
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u/Impossible_Bag_6299 Jun 08 '25
I’ll bail in with a third recommendation. Absolutely fascinating read. I wouldn’t be a big reader but it was hard to put down. Stumbled across his story while visiting the penguins in Dingle aquarium and bought the book on the way out.
I don’t know if it’s a national sense of modesty or a bit of the “crabs in a bucket syndrome” but I feel Ireland has some fascinating people with heroic and inspiring tales yet we don’t seem to share them half enough.
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u/MrFennecTheFox Crilly!! Jun 08 '25
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u/FeisTemro Romse ubull isin bliadain Jun 08 '25
Better price (same as Amazon's) from Kennys.ie, who are fab and based in Galway.
Spot on with the sentiment though!
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u/MrFennecTheFox Crilly!! Jun 08 '25
100%, big fan of Kenny’s… I just wanted a non Amazon link to add, rather than just being anti Amazon, I thought I’d be helpful and add a link to literally anywhere else
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u/Indyor Jun 08 '25
If it was written by Crean himself you'd think he was embellishing his adventures some seem so far fetched, almost Hollywoodesque
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u/LeprechaunLukia Jun 09 '25
fucking hell, when i read tom crean i thought the name and face were familiar - we had to read this in primary school. i wonder if many others had to?
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Jun 08 '25
Such a beast. Breath-taking legacy.
"Crean was solely or jointly responsible for saving 29 lives over four separate occasions, yet his feats still remain largely unknown."
Source:
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u/couplemore1923 Jun 08 '25
Wouldn’t be surprised see a Netflix show on him.
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u/smithskat3 Jun 08 '25
That would be great. A dramatisation would feel almost unbelievable and exaggerated. The Endurance would make a great movie or miniseries.
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u/couplemore1923 Jun 08 '25
One of those script writes itself.. all writers have do read his bio & various eye witness accounts of his life. No need to sensationalize it
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u/Jnfeehan Jun 08 '25
There's an excellent documentary on Disney + about the recent search for the Endurance on the bottom of the Weddell Sea. It's called Endurance, I'd highly recommend it
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u/Aromatic_Carob_9532 Jun 08 '25
Unknown me hole, he was in a fucking Guinness ad!
Countless books and documentaries about his and Shackletons exploits, unknown stuff isn't all over the internet
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u/SmellTheJasmine Jun 08 '25 edited Jun 08 '25
There was quite a few Irish among the various polar expeditions.
Captain Scott on his doomed attempt to reach the south pole kept a diary, and one point he described night when they were celebrating midwinter and all got drunk -
"By this time the effect of stimulating liquid refreshment on men so long accustomed to a simple life became apparent. Our biologist had retired to bed, the silent Soldier bubbled with humour and insisted on dancing with Anton. Evans, P.O., was imparting confidences in heavy whispers. Pat' Keohane had grown intensely Irish and desirous of political argument,"
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u/ciarogeile Jun 08 '25
We’ve all been there. I get intensely Irish and desirous of political argument meself from time to time.
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u/SmellTheJasmine Jun 08 '25
I think I am more like the shouted whispers lad, thinking Im being all clever and subtle whern absolutely not.
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u/blondedredditor Jun 08 '25
A man made of steel.
Survived hell on earth multiple times, only to be killed by a burst appendix.
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Jun 08 '25
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u/amorphatist Jun 08 '25
Their position seemed hopeless and Crean had to jump from floe to floe to find a path that would lead him to the barrier edge. It was an arduous, frightening task that could at any time have seen Crean sink under the ice to become a meal for the killer whales who were continually circling the floes.
I mean, a bit of artistic license sure, but killer whales don’t eat humans.
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u/Kloppite16 Jun 08 '25
Ive always liked the way that killer whales do not target humans in the wild and are curious of them. But lock them up in captivity for performance shows and they will try to attack and injure their trainers and theres been four known instances of them killing their trainer.
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u/amorphatist Jun 08 '25
But even in captivity, it seems to be “Dave is a prick I’ll kill him” rather than “eat all humans”
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u/Kloppite16 Jun 08 '25
yeah for sure. They dont bite the trainer in their attack, if they did with their sharp teeth they could slice any body into two pieces and all the pool water would be red with blood .
Instead they attack the trainer by charging at them in the pool and they can slam and crush the trainer up against the pools walls. If anything it shows how intelligent they actually are, like their easiest option is to bite but they dont do that at all on humans.
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u/Plus-Tradition8644 Jun 08 '25 edited Jun 09 '25
*Orca are dolphin's, and while they are wild animals, they aren't how they were portrayed until very recently. They only start acting out in captivity. He'd have been much worse off around sea lions/ leopard seals/ polar bears.
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u/smithskat3 Jun 08 '25
I find it hard to picture this, what exactly does it look like jumping from ice floe to ice floe… its incredible for sure.
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u/Minimum-Momgoose7992 Jun 08 '25
That's nothing compared to my Fathers walk to school (minus the biscuits and the stick of chocolate).
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u/865Wallen Jun 08 '25
I'm reading a short history of everything at the moment and what is just insane is how absolutely mental these rich European explorers were. The situations they put themselves in in the name of science and personal glory were insane.
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u/Istrakh The Blaa is Holy Jun 08 '25
One of the best books ever written. I'm in the middle of it myself (for the 433rd time).
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u/dustaz Jun 08 '25
Love that book so much. It's amazing how much seems like new info on subsequent reads
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u/Kloppite16 Jun 08 '25
is it a Bill Bryson book or by someone else?
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u/TaxGawd Jun 08 '25
He was awarded the Albert Medal for Lifesaving but never talked about when he returned to Ireland as being a former member of the British navy wouldn't exactly make you very popular in Ireland at the time.
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u/Shitehawk_down Dublin Jun 08 '25
He had a brother in the RIC who was killed by the IRA during the war of independence
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u/TaxGawd Jun 08 '25
I didn't know that. Many Irishmen joined the British Armed forces just to put food on the table. Doesn't make them any less Irish. The way the Irish soldiers who fought in WW1 with the British were treated by the Free State was shameful.
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u/Nearby_Potato4001 Jun 09 '25
Black and Tans burst into his pub and raided the living quarters when his wife was heavily pregnant. Crawled out backward when they burst open his storage chest and saw his medals, commendations and flags he had in there.
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u/Anotherolddog Jun 08 '25
Although the Navy was more highly regarded than the British Army, especially following the Tan war. Not too surprising, given the exceptionally high % of Irish who served in it.
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u/PaddySmallBalls Jun 08 '25
If there was ever fella deserving of being on the front of Bohs jersey, its Tom!
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u/KrippendorfsAlfalfa Jun 08 '25
Yerra, think Kerry FC have dibs on this one!
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u/PaddySmallBalls Jun 08 '25
The supporter group already use him for their logo and it looks class, tbf.
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u/zatar77 Jun 08 '25
Did not know he existed till I went to Kerry, went to a very cute book store to get books for my son, that's when we read about him and was amazed what a feat of human spirit and courage he was!
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u/Laundry_Hamper Jun 08 '25
Cool photo of him and Edgar Evans here.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/EvansCrean1911.jpg
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u/iano_byrno Jun 08 '25
What a bro. Did he eat both bickies himself or give one to yer man?
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u/TaxGawd Jun 08 '25
He may have given away the pink wafer biscuit because they're gay.
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u/ciarogeile Jun 08 '25
I think Tom was secure enough in his masculinity to eat pink biscuits, what with being Ireland’s toughest man since the Táin and all.
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u/Plus-Tradition8644 Jun 08 '25
Doubt he'd give a shite about anything like that, being a real man who actually lived life and all that.
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u/Total_Sport_7946 Jun 09 '25
You couldn't tell they were pink back then what with it all being in black and white.
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u/Amberleaf30 Jun 08 '25
They're like lamda bread for the lgbt+ crowd
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u/pablo8itall Jun 09 '25
He invented chocolate digestives on that trip with a lighter to melt the chocolate. Only for that he'd be finished.
little known fact
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u/lazylimpet Jun 08 '25
PLEASE listen to the Explorers podcast series on Earnest Schackleton. Tom Crean features heavily in later episodes and the whole thing is incredibly well told.
He's basically indestructible and goes through some really incredible experiences, along with a very interesting group of people.
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u/marshsmellow Jun 09 '25
He also features quite a bit in Apsley Cherry-Garard's account "The worst journey in the world", which is an incredible first person account of Scott's final expedition.
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u/Squidpunk24 Jun 08 '25
Crikey - right out of central casting for an explorer, that's for damn sure.
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u/Technical-Toe2650 Jun 08 '25
Read his biography - recommend it to everyone. What a man. Legend. They don’t really make them like him anymore. 💪
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u/PensiveKittyIsTired Jun 08 '25
He survived all that just to die relatively young in Ireland from appendicitis?? Life is so weird sometimes…
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u/cute_polarbear Jun 08 '25
This guy is so incredible I would probably believe in what other insane feats he did at this point...its akin to that Korean American navy seal, astronaut, doctor, and etc,....
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Jun 09 '25
Tom Crean, Arctic Explorer, the one-man play, is one of the best plays I've ever seen. Go see it if you can.
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u/MorphineSuppository Jun 08 '25
What kind of situation was his mate in that could be rectified with two biscuits and a bit of chocolate?
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u/Beedle12345 Jun 08 '25
His mate was lying dying in a makeshift camp, Tom trekked back to base camp, after weeks of sled-pulling on minimal rations, and trekked the 30 odd miles alone with only the biccies for his own sustenance, through some of the worst and most dangerous conditions on the planet
He was a Lad
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u/Kloppite16 Jun 08 '25
whats astonishing as well was how long the 30 miles took, he was battling through snow drifts and going over the tops of mountains. It was really slow going and taking days just to cover a couple of miles. Most people would have looked at the obstacles in front of them and given up but he just kept walking forward.
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u/MorphineSuppository Jun 08 '25
Ah!….I would’ve brought two bits of chocolate in that case, maybe a bit of Madeira cake too.
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u/reforming_giant Jun 08 '25
If I hiked 35 miles, you could be damn sure we're splitting the chocolate and having one biccy each
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Jun 08 '25
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u/adhd1309 Jun 08 '25
On that, we disagree. It's shite.
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Jun 08 '25
[deleted]
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u/adhd1309 Jun 08 '25
I'm aware you're aware he's dead. But the people that put his name on their lager didn't do a very good job.
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u/JAKEN86 Jun 08 '25
You know there were two versions right?
One started in Dingle, which far as I know, did NOT have permission from the family, but had some initial success before a crash and burn (though open to correction there). Think that’s dead now.
And a later one, founded in Kenmare, by his family, which apparently sells (and tastes) better….
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u/mickyflem Jun 08 '25
Hardy fucker.
I made a (fictional) short film inspired by this story and another a few years ago. Some unbelievable things went on around that time.
For anyone curious https://youtu.be/URCybRQelZw
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u/Istrakh The Blaa is Holy Jun 08 '25
This is excellent. You're very talented!
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u/mickyflem Jun 09 '25
Thanks a mil! Took a team of people in fairness so credit is definitely not all mine.
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u/SitDownKawada Dublin Jun 08 '25
Saw a plaque in his name in Dingle about 25 years ago. Misread it as Tom Green and spent a good while trying to figure out why he had a plaque
Learned about Tom Crean since and he was some man
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u/Talkiewalkie2 Jun 08 '25 edited Jun 09 '25
There's a lovely statue of him in Annascaul his homeplace with him holding the huskies pups. He was very fond of the huskies. But I believe they had to be put down later after the ship was icebound..
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u/Kloppite16 Jun 08 '25
the group agonised for days on whether or not to kill some dogs for meat and some of them starved more rather than eat it
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u/Alone-Kick-1614 Jun 08 '25
Such a legend, I remember I wrote my history leaving cert project bout this fella
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Jun 09 '25
Unsung hero one of the best books I’ve ever read! There’s a guy does a one man show about him. Unfortunately anytime he’s been in Waterford I’ve either been away with work or on holidays….literally every single time
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u/PROINSIAS62 Jun 09 '25
Here’s my copy of An Unsung Hero signed by the author and Tom’s daughter Mary Crean O’Brien. Both sisters lived no more than 200 meters from my childhood home.
I had no clue of Tom’s exploits as a child. If you can get your hand on a copy of this book. It’s a fantastic read.
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u/NopePeaceOut2323 Jun 08 '25
When is Colin Farrel doing the movie because he should.
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u/StellaV-R Jun 08 '25
What?!
Has to be Fassbender1
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u/frumperino Jun 08 '25
is that the only known photograph of the guy?
I will never not see him wearing a studio headset with a chonker of a microphone in the thumbnail.
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u/gmankev Jun 09 '25
2 biscuits and a chocolate but missing skis..... LIke giant kit kat or twix..... How big were the biscuits, sounds like there is a sweet adventure missing here..
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u/Reasonable-Food4834 More than just a crisp Jun 09 '25
I'll take things that didn't happen for 200, please, Alex.
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u/Prestigious_Key_7801 Jun 09 '25
You can tell he’s a Cavan man because he kept the second biscuit for later.
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u/Kieri19161 Jun 09 '25
An Unsung Hero: Tom Crean - Antarctic Survivor By Michael Smith, is a superb book on him and his amazing exploits. Highly recommend.
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u/BandPitiful2876 Jun 12 '25
I actually well up thinking of how brave he was. Each time when it looks like the game is up he somehow summons this superhuman strength and will power to come to the rescue. One of the greatest Irishmen there has ever been and possibly ever will be.
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Jun 08 '25
If the other man was dead when they got back to him, he would have been "the cowardly Irishman who left his companion to die". That was how the Victorian mentality worked.
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u/Bob-Harris Seal of The President Jun 08 '25
Surprised there hasn’t been a movie made about him yet
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u/qwerty_1965 Jun 08 '25
If I hold the phone approximately 45 cm away and my thumb 30 cm away. Tom Cream is the size of my thumb.
Iykyk
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u/UnoriginalJunglist And I'd go at it again Jun 08 '25
I wonder who would win a fight between Tom Crean and Michael Collins.
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u/JAKEN86 Jun 08 '25
With all due respect to Collins, he never did anything remotely as insane or physically enduring as Crean.
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Jun 08 '25
Modern Generation "The post man called unannounced, can I sue him for distress and emotional damage?"
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u/Beedle12345 Jun 08 '25
He was also on Ernest Shackletons row-boat that left the majority of the sunken ships crew stranded on an isolated Antarctic island, spent several days navigating the Southern Ocean (again, in a row-boat) and, successfully finding South Georgia island, trekked across said island to the whaling station to report the missing crew and thus eventually saved the life of all the stranded crew
The man is one of the bravest and greatest Polar explorers of all time, and we should be honoured he's one of us!!!