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Ireland, Athy
last update: Feb 03, 2006 04:11 PM
Athy (Baile Ache Hi, or the town of the ford of Ae)is situated about 1 hours drive south west of Dublin in the county of Kildare.
Athy's historic importance stems from the Ford, and the name commemorates a famous battle in 120 AD between the Munster men under Ae, and King Lewy in which Ae was killed.
Athy contains the only permanent exhibition on Ernest Shackleton, who was born not far from Athy in Kilkea House. The exhibit is housed in the Athy Heritage Center, which has a collection of artifacts from Athy's past as well as some interesting articles from Shackleton's expeditions.
Among the most impressive is a scale model of the Endurance. Each year the Center arranges and hosts the Shackleton Autumn School, with speakers from around the world to speak on different aspects of Antarctica and Shackleton's life in particular. 70South has been fortunate to have been invited to speak during the 2002 event, and the turnout and enthusiasm of those that attended was impressive.
