Everybody say freeze! IRISH EXPLORER TOM CREAN CAPTURED IN ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION SNAPSHOTS.

Byline: BY MICHELLE O'KEEFFE

HEROIC Irish polar explorers are captured in these stunning images that have never been seen before.

They are some of the priceless collection of thousands of pictures spanning 150 years of expeditions that will be up for viewing from today at the Freeze Frame online archive.

Tom Crean, from Co Kerry, who was a member of three of the four major British expeditions on Captain Robert Scott's Discovery Expedition to Antarctica between 1901 and 1904, is seen in one of the rare images with Petty Officer Evan mending sleeping bags.

Crean, whose bravery earned him three Polar Medals, moved back to Kerry where he and his wife ran the South Pole Inn until he died in 1938.

Sir Ernest Shackleton, of Co Kildare, who was the third officer of the expedition, is also pictured.

The images bring to life Scott's illfated Terra Nova Expedition. Heather Lane, keeper of the archives said: "We hope people will enjoy the richness of this visual archive of photography."

CAPTION(S):

FROSTY FRIENDS Adelie penguins, January 1911; POLAR-OID Expedition in 1912; DOOMED The Terra Nova ship and a berg, January 16, 1911 Pictures: FREEZE FRAME/PA WIRE; COMFORT Captain Scott writing his journal in the Winterquarters Hut; BAGS OF FUN Petty Officer Evans and Crean mending sleeping bags