Bones of 18th-century Charles Byrne are stored at the Royal College of Surgeons in London
The author Hilary Mantel has called for the Royal College of Surgeons to repatriate the skeleton of an Irish “giant” whose bones remain in storage in London two centuries after he asked to be buried at sea.
Charles Byrne had a genetic form of gigantism that caused him to grow to more than 2.31 metres (7ft 7in) tall. His height made him a celebrity in 18th-century London, and prior to his death in 1783 he went to great lengths to try to keep his skeleton from being put on display – a fate then usually reserved for executed criminals.
