Irish Examiner view: Museum did the right thing in removing 'the Irish Giant' from public view

Having removed Charles Byrne's skeleton, the Royal College of Surgeons should now consider his wish to be buried at sea

A 2011 photo of Charles Byrne's skeleton being viewed by Prof Márta Korbonits and Brendan Holland, who has the same 'gigantism' gene as his distant relative, 'the Irish Giant'. File picture: Hunterian Collection/PA

Much publicity has been given to the arguments for returning the Elgin Marbles to Greece but there is another case in which the moral imperative seems even stronger. It involves the 18th century remains of an Irishman from Littlebridge, Co Derry.

In his day, Charles Byrne was world famous as the “Irish Giant” with a height variously recorded as 7ft 7in to 8ft 4in . Byrne, 1761-1783, who suffered from the hormonal imbalance that produces gigantism, was the marvel of his age.

Byrne’s remains were stolen on the way to his funeral and, for more than two centuries, his skeleton was on display at the Hunterian Museum at Lincoln’s Inn Fields, in London, a location that operates under the auspices of the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS). 

Campaigners led requests for Byrne’s remains to be removed from public display and this has now been agreed, although the RCS says it will retain the remains for “bona fide medical research”. 

It acknowledges that the manner in which Byrne’s remains were obtained was “absolutely wrong” and the decision to retain the skeleton should not be considered “definitive”.

A contemporary etching of Charles Byrne (1761-1783) depicted with various Edinburgh notables. Picture: Alamy

The situation is nuanced by the fact that trustees are legally obliged to preserve the collection of Scottish surgeon and anatomist John Hunter who has given his name to the museum. Of course, social media is playing its customary polarising role in the debate that touches upon the hot topic of colonial appropriation. 

But whatever, and whenever, the outcome, it must be hoped the final wishes of Charles Byrne himself will be given full weight. He wanted to be buried at sea.