From the South Pole to South Kerry: Tom Crean’s famous pub goes sale agreed

Tom Crean’s iconic South Pole Inn has gone sale agreed.

The Kerry man, one of the country’s most famous explorers, went on three major expeditions to Antarctica during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration in the early 1900s, and received an Albert Medal and three Polar Medals.

While he never again spoke about his adventures once he returned to Ireland, his expeditions lived on well after his passing in 1938, with his pub — aptly named The South Pole — remaining a fixture of south Kerry for the near century after his death.

Tom Crean. (Public Domain)

The pub went on sale earlier this year, and with an asking price of €450,000, has since been sale agreed — with the listing saying what we’re all thinking: that the property needed little introduction

Sitting on an incredible riverside site, the pub has been presented in turnkey condition — with the traditional pub being in remarkable nick with stunning exposed cut stone walls and a beautiful fireplace.

The lounge is connected to the traditional pub, which boasts fitted seating, while to the west of the lounge is the beautiful restaurant that hosts approximately 40 patrons alongside the pièce de résistance — a replica of one of the boats Tom Crean was in on one of his three voyages to Antarctica.

The South Pole Inn in Annascaul, Co Kerry. (MyHome.ie / Ger Carmody Estates)

Tom was a part of the Discovery Expedition, the first official British expedition of the Antarctic region in 60 years, but was most famously known for his heroics in the Terra Nova expedition — when his 56km solo walk across the Ross Ice Shelf to save the life of his mate Edward Evans saw him receive the Albert Medal for bravery.

He went on one final expedition on the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition from 1914-1917 before retiring from the British Royal Navy in 1920 on health grounds — running the South Pole Inn in his hometown of Annascaul, Co Kerry until his death in 1938.

*This article was originally published on Extra.ie.