Imagine lying on your deathbed, knowing that doctors can’t wait to dissect you when you die. That is how the tallest man from Ireland ended his short life, and then his bones went on display in an English museum.
In Stuff the British Stole Marc Fennell unpicks the twisting story of Charles Byrne, the Irish Giant.
Charles Byrne was born in 1762 in the small village of Littlebridge. By the age of 18, he had grown to over 7 feet tall and realised that he could earn a small fortune by becoming a pay-per-view human curiosity. He went on a tour of country fairs and village greens in Scotland and northern England, marketing himself as the Irish Giant, and the tour was a runaway success. By the age of 21, he was hailed as the tallest man in the world.
After moving to London to seek fame and fortune, he came to the attention of an eminent surgeon who became obsessed with his potential value as a cadaver and medical exhibit. Byrne was robbed of his life savings and was afflicted by a deadly malady that cut short his life at the tender age of 22.
On his deathbed, Byrne made it clear to his friends that he did not wish to be dissected and instead wished to be buried at sea in an iron coffin. Unfortunately, bodysnatchers removed his remains before his wish could be fulfilled.
For years, Byrne’s bones have been on display in a London Museum. So exactly how did he get there? This epic story starts at the mysterious steps of Giants Causeway, where tales of leviathans have consumed people’s imaginations for centuries and takes us right into the dark heart of London’s oldest operating theatres via a few Irish pubs along the way.
This is not just a story of a man who was larger than life; it is a story of betrayal, exploitation, and the brutal reality of the medical industry. Many of the medical practices that save lives today are only possible thanks to the macabre and brutal business of shady grave robbers who sold corpses to medical schools or scientists who needed human bodies to dissect.
8pm Monday on ABC.
links to content on ABC
TV Tonight
