Exhibition of “the Irish Giant” is still raising questions of medical ethics even 200 years after his death. Charles Byrne was born in Littlebridge, Co Derry, of an Irish father and a Scottish mother. He travelled throughout Britain on exhibition, forming a double act with the (again, roughly) three feet tall Count Joseph Boruwlaski. BBC documentary: Charles Byrne - The Irish GiantHe first went to London on April 11, 1782 and exhibited himself at Spring Gardens, laying claim to the title “The Irish Giant”. Based on James Quinn’s biography of Charles Byrne (edited for this Extraordinary Emigrants series for Irish Times Abroad by Clare McCarthy) in the Royal Irish Academy’s Dictionary of Irish Biography.

Source: The Irish Times February 28, 2018 11:15 UTC