Shackleton show in St Mary’s proves a great success

A PARED-BACK performance telling the story of Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton found a deeply personal home in St Mary’s Church last month, in the very place where his parents were married.

South! Always South!, written by Castledermot author John MacKenna, came to Carlow on 26 September after touring Ireland two years ago with an 80-piece orchestra. This intimate version featured just four performers – MacKenna on narration, Athy musician Brian Hughes on whistle, Margaret Hogan on harp and piano, and Katie Jack on vocals.

The Carlow connection emerged when Rev Paul FitzPatrick contacted Mr MacKenna with a photograph revealing that Shackleton’s parents had tied the knot in St Mary’s. Although Mr MacKenna had already written a book about the explorer and knew his mother hailed from the Carlow area, he hadn’t been aware of this particular family link.

“We’d gone all over the country with the orchestra, and Brian was very interested in stripping it back down to just pipes, whistle, harp and piano,” Mr MacKenna explained.

The scaled-down approach created what he described as “a much rawer production” that really connected with the audience.

The script was redrafted to weave in references to Carlow, and three new songs were written especially for the occasion. The performance took a theatrical turn when Shackleton’s ghost appeared to give a lecture in the church where his parents married, only to be interrupted by the arrival of his mother's ghost drifting up the centre aisle in a long white dress.

“It was to give an added twist to the story and to root it more closely in St Mary’s because of the family connection there,” Mr MacKenna said.

The evening clearly struck a chord with the 150 to 160 people in attendance, many of whom stayed afterwards to discuss the performance.

“I think it really connected with the audience on the night – we got a fabulous response,” added Mr MacKenna.