Antarctic hero to be honoured

Everest conqueror Dr Clare O’Leary will this weekend unveil a memorial in honour of a heroic Irish polar adventurer who was a member of Captain Robert Scott’s ill-fated expedition to the South Pole a century ago.

Patrick Keohane from West Cork sailed in 1910 from London to Antarctica as part of the Terra Nova expedition. Among the team were fellow Co Cork men Robert Forde and Mortimer McCarthy along with Tom Crean from Kerry.

Keohane from Barry’s Point in Courtmacsherry had joined the Royal Navy at the age of 16. He had been one of 16 men chosen to make the journey from base camp at Cape Evans to the South Pole but had been subsequently ordered by Scott, along with three others, to return to Cape Evans.