- The Shackleton Experience in Athy has been shortlisted for a English Guild of Travel Writers award
- The museum holds the largest collection of Shackleton memorabilia worldwide
- Three floors offer wheelchair accessibility with tours in six languages
- A research studio examines climate change impacts on Antarctica
- The facility includes a reconstructed 1920s cinema with archival footage
The Shackleton Experience in Athy, Co Kildare has been shortlisted in the English Guild of Travel Writers annual awards for outstanding Tourism projects 2026. The museum dedicated to the Irish born polar explorer Ernest Shackleton has received recognition for its exhibition of the largest collection of Shackleton memorabilia worldwide. Isabel Conway nominated the facility for the award.
The museum opened with three floors of accessible exhibition space and offers self-guided tours in six languages. A reconstructed 1920s cinema displays archival footage and historic clips of Shackleton’s expeditions. The research studio provides study facilities for scholars examining climate change impacts on Antarctica.
Visitors experience simulated conditions of Antarctica including iciness, howling winds and mountainous crashing waves. The attraction reaches audiences from climate activists to children fascinated by animal and glacier noises. Shackleton died in 1922 during his final expedition.
Isabel Conway shared: So delighted my nomination of The Shackleton Experience in Athy Co Kildare dedicated to the famous Irish born polar explorer is shortlisted in the English Guild of Travel Writers annual awards for outstanding Tourism projects 2026. The wonderfully immersive new museum shows the largest collection of Shackleton memorabilia in the world and reaches out to everyone, from climate activists to children fascinated by the animal and glaciers noises of Antarctica.
