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Author Hilary Mantel has asked the Royal College of Surgeons to repatriate the skeleton of an Irish “giant” whose bones remain on display in London two centuries after he asked to be buried at sea.
Byrne had a genetic form of gigantism that caused him to grow to over 2.31 meters (7 feet 7 inches) tall. His height made him a celebrity in 18th century London, and before his death in 1783 he did everything he could to ensure that his body was not dissected, a fate that was usually reserved for executed criminals. But despite her wishes and plans for a burial at sea, her remains were acquired by pioneering Scottish surgeon and anatomist John Hunter.
Byrne’s skeleton appeared in Hunter’s private collection four years later and remained on public display for much of the next two centuries in the Hunterian Museum, run by the Royal College of Surgeons.
In 2018, the Hunterian Museum said it would consider Byrne’s fate during renovations.
Mantel, the booker-winning author of Wolf Hall and writer of a fictional portrait of Byrne titled The Giant, O’Brien, said this week that it was “time for Charles to go home” and for his bones to be buried. In Ireland.
“I know that in real life he was a suffering soul, nothing to do with the fabulous storybook giant I created, and that his rewards were minor and his ending was very grim,” Mantel said.
“I think science has learned all it can from bones, and the most honorable thing now is to put it to rest. It would fit in with the spirit of the times and I see no reason to delay it. He has waited long enough. “
BBC Documentary: Charles Byrne – The Irish Giant
The remains of Charles Byrne in the Hunterian Museum Royal College of Surgeons (2) courtesy of the Hunterian Collection Board
Genetic-based diseases
However, Brendan Holland, a distant relative of Byrne who is 6 feet 9 inches tall and carries the same gene for gigantism as his ancestor, says there may still be more to learn from bones.
“The reason he’s in the museum is not a public curiosity, he’s there to teach students about genetic diseases,” Holland told The Irish Times. He said Mantel was wrong to write in his novel that Byrne feared his body would be kept in a museum for hundreds of years.
“That is not true, I was afraid of being dissected, which was the mark of criminality. I’m pretty sure, knowing what I would have suffered, that I would have been generous enough of spirit to see that yes, if my body helps people avoid being in the situation I’ve been through, it should be used. “
Holland noted that research conducted in recent years using DNA from Byrne’s skeleton helped save lives and prevented others from having to suffer the same suffering Byrne endured. Additional research could save more lives in the future, he added.
“It is one of the things that has made sense of my condition. I had this problem before trying to understand, as one of the eight siblings, why I had the condition and the other seven did not. Now I understand why “.
Ronan McCluskey, who directed the 2011 documentary Charles Byrne, the Irish giant, says the skeleton represents “hundreds of people who have had the condition for thousands of years and have gone through terrible suffering.” Showing his bones brought more attention to the condition and allowed more people with the gene to access treatment, he said. He added that he did not expect the Hunterian Museum to be happy to part ways with the skeleton. “It is the heart of the screen, everything leads to this giant skeleton. Without the skeleton, the collection will mean much less, I would say they will cling to it.
Hunterian museum
A spokeswoman for the Hunterian Museum said it will not reopen for “at least” another two years.
“An update of the plans for all exhibits in the new museum will be published in due course.”
Dr. Cliona McGovern, director of forensic and legal medicine at University College Dublin, says Byrne would have objected to having her DNA used in medical research.
“We know that Byrne did not consent to his body being exhibited and, what is more unusual for a case from 1783, we know what his explicit wishes were: burial at sea. Hunter interfered with a burial, which was (and is) a legal right, and also did not refer to any member of Byrne’s family, who also had a legal claim to Byrne’s inheritance. “At the time, the use of remains Corporal for display or anatomy was reserved for traitors and murderers ”.
Byrne was determined that such humiliation was not for him, ”added McGovern.
“The newspapers of the time reported that he wanted to be weighed and buried in the sea. He was not a criminal and did not want his body to be dug up by body thieves. “Additional Copy – Guardian
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