A Grave Situation: An Examination of the Legal Issues raised by the Life and Death of Charles Byrne, the “Irish Giant”’

Thomas Muinzer

doi:10.1017/S094073911200046X

A Grave Situation: An Examination of the Legal Issues raised by the Life and Death of Charles Byrne, the “Irish Giant”’

Thomas Muinzer^* (Corresponding Author)

^*Corresponding author for this work

Queen's University Belfast

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Charles Byrne was an eighteenth-century celebrity “Irish giant” who
requested burial upon nearing death, but whose corpse was procured against his wishes by the surgeon John Hunter. Hunter reduced Byrne’s corpse to its
skeleton and exhibited it as the centerpiece of his vast anatomical collection. It has since remained on display in the Hunterian Museum, London. In 2011 it was announced that research conducted on the skeleton’s DNA has revealed
that several Northern Irish families share a common ancestry with Byrne. This article considers the legal issues raised by Byrne’s story. The results of fieldwork undertaken by the author in Byrne’s native townland are also discussed, where
folk tradition suggests that Byrne wished to be buried foremost at a local site remembered today as “the Giant’s Grave.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	23-48
Number of pages	26
Journal	International Journal of Cultural Property
Volume	20
Issue number	1
Early online date	26 Apr 2013
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1017/S094073911200046X
Publication status	Published - 2013

Bibliographical note

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: I am grateful to Professor Norma Dawson of Queen’s University Belfast for nurturing my interest in Byrne and for comment upon an early draft of this paper article. I thank also Professor Emeritus Len Doyal, Dr. Heather Conway and Anna-Marie McAlinden. I extend further thanks to the peer reviewers and editor for their comments and suggestions.

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Cite this

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abstract = "Charles Byrne was an eighteenth-century celebrity “Irish giant” whorequested burial upon nearing death, but whose corpse was procured against his wishes by the surgeon John Hunter. Hunter reduced Byrne{\textquoteright}s corpse to itsskeleton and exhibited it as the centerpiece of his vast anatomical collection. It has since remained on display in the Hunterian Museum, London. In 2011 it was announced that research conducted on the skeleton{\textquoteright}s DNA has revealedthat several Northern Irish families share a common ancestry with Byrne. This article considers the legal issues raised by Byrne{\textquoteright}s story. The results of fieldwork undertaken by the author in Byrne{\textquoteright}s native townland are also discussed, wherefolk tradition suggests that Byrne wished to be buried foremost at a local site remembered today as “the Giant{\textquoteright}s Grave.",

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A Grave Situation: An Examination of the Legal Issues raised by the Life and Death of Charles Byrne, the “Irish Giant”’

Abstract

Bibliographical note

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