March 28, 2012
Burying the Hunterian’s “Irish Giant” skeleton at sea?
One of the most noticeable exhibits in London’s Hunterian Museum is that of Charles Byrne, also know as “The Irish Giant”. 230 years after his death though, there are renewed calls for the skeleton to be buried at sea, in accordance of the stated wishes of Charles Byrne whilst he was alive.
From:
Londonist
Should The Hunterian Museum’s Giant Skeleton Be Buried At Sea?
By M@ · December 21, 2011 at 15:01Anyone who has ever visited the Hunterian Museum in Lincoln’s Inn Fields will remember this one exhibit. The skeletal remains of Charles Byrne, the ‘Irish Giant’ who stood 7′ 7” tall, are something of an unofficial mascot for the anatomy museum, as the mal-stuffed walrus is for the Horniman Museum and that weird jar of moles is for the Grant.
But now there are renewed calls for the skeleton to be buried at sea. It’s a tale of 230-year-old last wishes, corpse robbing and the grey area between science, education and morality.
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