She may have conquered Everest, completed the world's Seven Summits and seen some of the world's most amazing sights on the way but, for Cork woman, Clare O' Leary there is no place like home.

Having just returned from her latest expedition to the South Pole where she trekked across more than 1,100km of snow and ice battling against the elements and bitter temperatures and even earned herself the title of becoming the first Irish woman to ever reach the pole, Clare is delighted to get back home and to be catching up with her family and friends who she had not seen in almost three months.

"I always love to come home," she says, "I've been to lots of places that have been spectacular, amazing but, I couldn't ever see myself living outside of Ireland."

Currently based at the South Tipperary General Hospital in Clonmel, where she works is a specialist in gastroenterology and general internal medicine, Clare is originally from Bandon and still considers the West Cork town her real home. In fact, despite working in the "Premier County", Clare's home in Bandon is still full with her personal belongings.

It's no doubt that the picturesque West Cork town and its beautiful surroundings had an impact on Clare's love of the outdoors but, growing up in Bandon, the then teen had never imagined what adventures the future had in store for her. In fact, she admits that it wasn't actually until her college days that she first got involved in hillwalking and climbing, something which would have a profound influence over her.

As Clare got closer to her degree she became more and more interested in hillwalking and in pushing herself even further and after entering the world of work she followed the recommendation of a friend and got in touch with Pat Falvey to find out what else she could do.

That was eight-years-ago and since that date Clare has walked the hills and mountains of Ireland and Scotland and has had many other cold climbing experiences in the European Alps, New Zealand, Norway. In May 2006 she became the first Irish female to summit the beautiful 'Ama Dablam' in the Himalayas and six months later in November 2006, she was a team leader on the successful South Georgia traverse as part of the Beyond Endurance Expedition. She is of course also the first Irish female to climb Mount Everest and also the first Irish female (15th female worldwide) to complete the Seven summits which includes Mount Vinson in the Antarctic and Mount McKinley in Alaska.

When asked how she became involved in such thrilling expeditions as these and her latest trip to the South Pole, Clare's answer was a simple one- "passion." "Since I first started hillwalking, I have just loved it and always wanted to push myself even further," she said.

And there is no doubt that the doctor is capable of pushing herself even further with her latest trip evidence of her immense physical strength and ability to endure even the most inhospitable surroundings.

In fact the Cork woman managed to avoid any serious injuries during the major expedition, something she attributes to luck and her fitness, and despite her own exhaustion, even managed to help their fifth and lesser known team member, Freddy, to pen his blog throughout the trip. Freddy, also known as Frederick T Bear first joined Clare and the team when on the Everest Expedition. "It all started when we were approached by teacher Mary Curtain of Cloghroe National School, who asked us if we would take Freddy with us," she said. With the team members themselves writing their own blogs, it was suggested that Freddy too should write his own diary to help teach children (and adults) the geography of the world, and so began Clare's role helping him to help him write his diaries and even his own book.

As for the next trip, Clare has yet to decide where her next adventure might take her and says "there is loads of stuff out there that I would like to see but, I haven't quite decided yet." Medicine is also hugely important to Clare and she has no problem admitting that she is happy to stay working for the moment, believing it is always important "to keep one leg on the ground."