County Derry ‘giant ’ skeleton to be removed from British museum after 250 years

The skeleton of a County Derry 'giant' who dreaded becoming an exhibit will be removed from a British museum after 250 years on display.

Charles Byrne from Littlebridge was seven foot seven inches tall and performed as a 'curiousity act', calling himself the Irish Giant.

His skeleton was on display at the Hunterian Museum in London.

The museum closed five years ago for major renovations and last week announced it would not include Charles's remains when it reopens in March.

It is well documented that Charles wanted to be buried at sea according to a 2011 paper by ethicist Len Doyal and lawyer Thomas Muinzer. This was to avoid his body being seized by scientists looking to study his anatomy.

Charles feared English anatomist and founder of the Hunterian Museum, John Hunter, would dig up his body as he had done to the remains of many before.

When Charles died, Mr Hunter managed to bribe one of his friends to give him his body. As his friend's carried his remains to the sea they stopped overnight and body was secretly removed from the coffin and replaced with heavy objects.

Just three years later his skeleton was on display in the Hunterian.

A statement from the museum said its trustees 'discussed the sensitivities' of keeping Charles Byrne’s skeleton on display.

"The Trustees agreed that Charles Byrne’s skeleton will not be displayed in the redeveloped Hunterian Museum but will still be available for bona fide medical research into the condition of pituitary acromegaly and gigantism," a statement from the museum said.

Brendan Holland, a distant relative of Charles Byrne, told RTE he believed it was the right decision and he is in favour of the skeleton continuing to be used for medical research.

Charles was born in 1761 and left his hometown in County Derry to travel through northern England as a 'curiosity act' to make money.

He became a London celebrity and inspired a pantomime called the Giant’s Causeway.

When his life savings were stolen he began drinking heavily and then contracted tuberculosis. Charles died aged 22 in 1783. The UK life expectancy at the time was around 39 according to Statista.

When Charles died a newspaper of the time noted that surgeons, desperate for his remains, surrounded his house 'just as harpooners would an enormous whale'.

In place of the skeleton a portrait of John Hunter which shows Mr Byrne's leg bones in the background will be on display.

The reason Charles grew too tall was due to an undiagnosed benign tumour of the pituitary gland. Because of this, his body produced too much growth hormone, causing conditions known as acromegaly and gigantism.

Calls to take Charles's body off display had previously been ignored because of its 'educational and research value'.

It could be used to identify shared genes between Charles and living individuals with the same condition.

This is how it was discovered that Brendan Holland, a distant relative of Charles Byrne, was related to and had the same condition as Charles.