27/07/2025
Possibly the last photograph ever taken of Tom Crean and on this day, 87 years ago, he drew his last breath.
The events leading up to Tom Crean's passing make for sad reading: he had fallen ill with appendicitis and in an ironic twist of fate, the man, whose stock in trade had been to save so many lives in the harshest conditions on Earth, had no one to attend to him in his own hour of need.
Without a doctor able to perform a life saving operation at the Tralee hospital he was rushed to, he had to be ferried the 70 mile journey to Cork’s Bon Secours Hospital. It was too late. Peritonitis had set in and after a week, Crean, the lifesaver extraordinaire, passed away.
He died of toxaemia in the presence of Sister Raphael, one of the order of Bon Secours nuns who cared for the Kerryman.
His body was returned home to Annascaul, and the following day, July 28th, after a requiem mass at the village’s Church if the Sacred Heart, his coffin was borne on the shoulders of his neighbours and naval comrades for the two-mile walk up to Ballynacourty cemetery close to his birthplace. The procession was the largest the district had ever seen and included many of his schoolboy contemporaries.
He was laid to rest in the tomb he himself had built, beside his beloved young daughter Kate, who had passed away shortly before her 4th birthday some 14 years earlier.
Still draped around his neck lay the holy scapular he’d worn throughout his life. It was a symbol of his strong faith and a driver in the belief that he could overcome all obstacles and adversities that lay in his path.
The inscription on the side of his tomb read:
“Home is the Sailor, Home from the Sea” and atop of the tomb lay a ceramic bowl of flowers which arrived via a white Rolls Royce sent by the man whose life he’d saved some 26 years earlier. Evans, who was unable to attend, had arranged by telegraph upon hearing the sad news, for the floral tribute to be sent through Crean’s former Terra Nova colleague, Robert Forde.
Evans, who by this time had risen to the rank of Admiral, would, no doubt, have been mindful of the Crean’s memorable words on Antarctica’s Great Ice Barrier, as he lay close to death and ordered Crean and Lashly to return without him. 'If you go out sir, we all go out together’ are words that typified the true hero Tom Crean was.
And so, as we remember the Tom Crean on the 87th anniversary of his passing, his response to Captain Scott's feeble excuse in omitting Crean from the final party he took with him to the South Pole, springs to mind.
As Scott entered the tent of the final supporting party, Crean, a lifelong pipe smoker, hacked as he cleared his throat. "That's a bad cough you have there Crean" said Scott, by way of letting the Kerryman know he'd not been chosen as part of the team to accompany the expedition leader to the South Pole. In a typical, quick witted response Crean replied "I know a half-sung song when I hear one sir", leaving Scott in little doubt that he was fully aware of the "soft soaping" exercise he was being dealt.
Tom Crean's story still remains a half-sung song and although today, more people across the globe become aware of his epic story, it's down to us, his fans and admirers, to change that up by continuing to spread the word about a serial lifesaver whose acts of heroism on the coldest and most inhospitable place on earth, set him apart.
To discover Tom Crean's epic story, the biography 'Crean - The Extraordinary Life of an Irish Hero’ published by Merrion Press in 2023, chronicles his life and career, in a book that gave rise to substantial official changes and additional events that have now been incorporated into his timeline.
For young children, Tom Crean's story is truly inspirational and is one that they will warm to. To my mind, after many years of studying and researching his story, there is no greater role model and an illustrated version of his life titled 'Tom The Mighty Explorer', is where children too can discover their new hero and carry his story into tomorrow.
Both books are available in stores and via online booksellers, worldwide.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crean-Extraordinary-Life-Irish-Hero/dp/1785374567
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tom-Mighty-Explorer-Tim-Foley/dp/1527277089
Today, I'll be raising a glass to the great Tom Crean and I invite all of you to join me in saluting a great hero.
