Written by Lianne Kolirin, CNNLondon
A British museum is set to remove its most famous exhibit from the exhibition – the skeleton of an 18th-century man popularly known as the ‘Irish Giant’. The Hunterian Museum houses a collection of anatomical specimens at the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS) in London. It was closed for five years for a major renovation, but when it reopens in March, its collection of 3,000 objects and specimens on display will not include Charles Byrne’s skeleton.
Charles Byrne’s skeleton on display at the Hunterian Museum Credit: Hunterian Collection Trustees
Byrne had an undiagnosed benign pituitary tumor. As a result, his body produced too much growth hormone, leading to conditions known as acromegaly and gigantism – meaning his bones became much larger than normal. He was 7 feet 7 inches tall.
In the final stages of his life, Byrne made a living by posing as an “Irish giant”. He died in 1783, and the RCS said it was well documented that he wished to be buried at sea to prevent his body from being confiscated by anatomists.
The portrait of John Hunter by Joshua Reynolds is on display at the museum. Photo credit: Hunterian Museum/Royal College of Surgeons of England
However, the museum’s founder, surgeon and anatomist John Hunter, paid friends of Byrne’s to hand over his body, and three years later he displayed the skeleton in his museum, then located in London’s Leicester Square. Byrne’s leg bones can be seen in the background of a painting of Hunter by famed portrait painter Joshua Reynolds.
The portrait will now replace the skeleton for the first time in over 200 years in the newly renovated museum.
A press statement from the RCS confirmed the decision to remove Byrne’s skeleton from the collection, which also contains surgical instruments, models and archival materials tracing the history of surgery from ancient times to the latest robotic surgeries.
It states: “During the museum’s closure, the Hunterian Collection Board of Trustees discussed the sensitivities and differing views surrounding the display and preservation of Charles Byrne’s skeleton. The Trustees agreed that Charles Byrne’s skeleton will not be displayed in the newly developed Hunterian Museum but will continue to be available for genuine medical research into the condition of pituitary acromegaly and gigantism.”
Back in 2011, ethicist Len Doyal and lawyer Thomas Muinzer published an article on the subject in the British Medical Journal, advocating the removal of Byrne’s skeleton from the museum.
They wrote: “Byrne was terrified of Hunter using grave robbers (“resurrection artists”) to provide him with unauthorized exhumed bodies. Because of Hunter’s reputation for collecting unusual specimens for his private museum, Byrne was concerned that Hunter would want his body for dissection (a fate reserved for executed criminals) and likely display.”
They continued: “Byrne told friends that after his death his body was to be sealed in a lead coffin and buried at sea. When Hunter found out he managed to bribe one of them, and when the friends stopped overnight on their way to bury Byrne in the English Channel, his body was replaced with heavy objects. Hunter acquired the body that way.”
In a more detailed statement released by the museum, the trustees said of their decision: “John Hunter (1728-1793) and other anatomists and surgeons of the 18th century rightly deserve scrutiny and debate.”
A new program called Hunterian Provocations will begin this autumn to encourage new research and examine issues surrounding the display of human remains and the acquisition of specimens during British colonial expansion, the RCS added.