With all the current
interest in
Ernest
Shackleton, here's
a picture of his ancestor's mill, near Kilkea Co. Kildare, not far from
the town of Carlow.
Picture courtesy of P.P. "Carloman"
2001 |
|
 Ernest
Henry Shackleton was born at Kilkea House, County Kildare, on February
15, 1874. The Shackletons came originally from Yorkshire. The founder of
the family was Abraham Shackleton, a Quaker, who moved to Ireland early
in the eighteenth century and started a school at Ballitore, near
Dublin. Henry Shackleton, Ernest's father, was Abraham's direct
descendant in the fourth generation.
Henry tried to enter the army but
his poor health prevented him. Becoming a farmer instead, he settled in
the green, fertile, rolling fields of County Kildare at a place called
Kilkea. Ernest's mother, born Henrietta Letitia Sophia Gavan, married
Henry in 1872, bringing a touch of Irish blood into an otherwise pure
Anglo-Irish lineage. Ernest's birth happened to coincide with the
disastrous potato crop failure, so much a part of Irish history.
This
meant an agricultural depression and difficult times for farmers. Henry
Shackleton was a survivalist and therefore abandoned his farm before it
was too late. At the age of 33, Henry left his farm to Trinity College
in Dublin and started a new career in medicine. In 1884, Dr. Shackleton
crossed the water and settled in England. It was in suburban London that
Ernest Shackleton spent the remainder of his boyhood years. Ernest's
mother became mysteriously an invalid and remained so for the last forty
years of her life. Dr. Shackleton, with help from his mother-in-law and
various female relatives from Ireland, raised Ernest and the other
children.
Source:
http://www.south-pole.com/p0000097.htm
- Other Links on
Ernest H.
Shackleton worth
a look:
-
http://www.antarctic-circle.org/E48.htm
-
http://www.antarctic-circle.org/timeline.htm
BACK to index
Please report any images or broken
links which do not open to
mjbrennan30@gmail.com
- The information contained in these
pages is provided solely for the purpose of sharing with
others researching their ancestors in Ireland.
- © 2001 County
Carlow Irish Genealogy Project. IGP
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