The restored ship’s cabin, where Irish polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton spent his last hours, has been delivered to the Kildare museum, which is named after him.
The cabin from The Quest, which was anchored off south Georgia when he died of a heart attack in 1922, has been restored by Connemara conservation expert Sven Habermann.
Sir Ernest Shackleton's restored ship’s cabin. It has been donated to the Athy Heritage Museum and the Ernest Shackleton Autumn School Photo: Eugene Furlong
It will be displayed at the Shackleton Museum in Athy, near Kilkea House, birthplace of “the Boss” as he was known.
The museum, which has been extensively renovated, will re-open to visitors in June 2025.
After Shackleton’s death, The Quest was deployed as a minesweeper through the second World War, and sank in 1962 during a seal hunt off the Labrador coast.
An interior shot of Shackleton's restored cabin Photo: Eugene Furlong
Before that, it’s cabin had been removed by the ship’s owner, Johan Drage, and taken to Norway where it was used latterly as a garden shed. Drage’s great-grandson Ulf Bakke.
The wreck of the ship was recently identified on the seabed off Newfoundland, Canada.
Thankfully, the owner of the ship, Johan Drage, had long removed Shackleton’s cabin, dubbed his “sea bedroom”, and transported it to Norway.
After it was tracked down by Corkman Eugene Furlong, Drage’s great-grandson Ulf Bakke agreed to donate it to the heritage centre in Athy.
