Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-07-19
rwo SKELETONS OF ONE NAN.
Mystery Of Irish Giants Rsmains-
Bristol and London Finds.

From the London Standard.
Several persons of distinction were born
In more places than one-if the places con-
cerned can be believed. Some left two
skulls behind them when they died. But
Patrick O'Brfen. the famous Irish giant OF
100 years ago. beat them all, for two COM
plete skeletons of him have been discover
ed. One is in the museum of the Royal
College Of Surgeons In London. The other
was dug up at Bristol recently.
The story OF the new discovery has been
partially told. Excavations are being made
on the site of the old Roman Catholic
fnclosed in the rock. twelve feet below the
surface. the workmen came across an enOr-
nous lead coffin. which was found to con-
tain a skeleton of heroic dimensions The
breastplate on the CONN, which was per-
fectly legible. stated that the remains were
those Of Patrick Cotter O'Brien. and that
his height was feet inches. 1t Is In ac-
cordance with the recognized business of
showmen that the recorded heights of the
giant are on sliding scale. On an ada
cent memorial the size Is set down at 8
feet 4 Inches. Show bills of the period.
which have been recovered from dusty
archives since the discovery. gave the
giants height as feet.
Authorities in anatomy and craniology
have examined the skeleton. They say 1t Is
remarkable on account Of its huge general
proportions. and they will enrich science
with a report on the remains. The curious
people Of Bristol fiocked in crowds to the
graveyard yesterday to feast their eyes
Clifton sternly interviewed. ordered the
gates to be closed. and the coffin to be re-
stored to consecrated ground.
This order is In agreemnt not only with
the dictates in decency. but also with the
dying wish OF the disturbed giant. whose
dislike OF the anatomfst was so great that
he left instructions for his body to be In
In yrfa In nnlid md
fastened down with strong iron bars.
The people Of Bristol are now claiming
that the skeleton in the Royal College Of
Surgeons Is. to put It mildly. unauthorized.
The most likely explanation of the mys-
terry is that there were two Irish giants
of the same period. both named O'Brien
One was Patrick Cotter O'Brien. who died
mains discovered at Bristol. The other
was Patrick Cor Charles) Byrne. whose
name became corrupted to O'Brfen He
died in 1888. His death. and the gruesome
story of how his body came into the hands
of the surgeons, is told in the Annual
Register" and in Tom Taylors Leicester
Square"
Under the heading Died" and the date
June 80. 1888. the Annual Register says
I'm Cockfpur- ftreet. Charing Crofs aged
only twenty-five. Mr.. Charles Byrne. the
famous Irifh giant whcfe death Ia faid to
have been precipitated by excefffve drink
Ing. to which he was always addicted, but
more particularly fince his late lofs of al
mott all his property. which he had finn
ply invefted in Jingle bank note OF 1901
In his laft moments Ut has been fa1d) he
requefted that his ponderous remains
might be thrown into the fea. in order
that his bones might be placed Iar OUT
in confequence Of which the body was
fhipped on board a veffel to be conveyed
to the Downs, to be funk in 20 fathom
water. We have reason, however, to be-
lieve that this report Is merely a tub
thrown out to the whale.
"Our Philosophical readers may not be
Duplicated to know, on the credit OF an
tunity Of informing himfelf: that MT
Byrne, in Auguft, 1880. meafured eight
feet: that in 1852 he had gained two
inches. and after he was dead he meafured
eight feet four inches. Neither his father.
mother. brother. nor any other person o.
the family was of an extraordinary fize
The body-snatching suggestion Is de-
veloped with much detail in other publica-
lions of the time Il is declared that Dr.
John Hunter, a famous physiologfst and
surgeon. gave $500 for the BODY. but IN
these accounts the height Is gwen as oniy
7 feet inches.
O'Brien dreading dissection by Hunter
had shortly before his death arranged
with several of his countrymen that ms
corpse should be conveyed by them TO
the sea and sunk in deep water. but his
undertaken, who had entered into pecu-
mary compact with the great anatomhst'
managed that while the escort was drink
ing at a certain stage on the march sea-
ward the coffin should be locked UP In
barn. There some men he had concealed
sneedily substitued an equivalent weight
~ ma wing stones for the body. which was
at night forwarded to Hunter. and by
him taken in hts carriage to Earls Court.
and to avoid risk Of discovery immedi-
Rte1y, after suitable DIVISION, poiieu W oo
tain the bones.
whether Charles or Patrick, whether
Byrne or OBrien, 1t Is certain that the
skeleton is now to be found at the Roya!
Co1IeOe of Surgeons. 1t is in the central
wall case on the east side of the new large
museum. Adjoining 1t. under glass
shade, Is that of the Sicilian dwarf. caro-
raars twenty inches in height.