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Charles Byrne (probable real name: Charles O'Brien (1761 – 1 June 1783), or "The Irish Giant", was a man regarded as a curiosity or freak in London in the 1780s for his large stature. Byrne's exact height is of some conjecture. Some accounts refer to him as being 8 ft 2 in (2.49 m) to 8 ft 4 in (2.54 m) tall, but skeletal evidence places him at just over 7 ft 7 in (2.31 m)
His skeleton was on display at the Hunterien Museum in London from 1799 until it was removed from public display in 2023
"His gentle, likeable nature inspired an immense public fondness, and his celebrity life was constantly splashed across the newspapers of the day. "The wonderful Irish Giant... is the most extraordinary curiosity ever known, or ever heard of in history; and the curious in all countries where he has been shewn, pronounce him to be the finest display of Human nature they ever saw"
"O'Brien (Byrne) was related to another Irish giant in Patrick Cotter O'Brien of County Cork, who exhibited himself shortly after the death of Byrne, stating that he was 8'7" in height.
An exhumation of Patrick O'Brien's bones in 1972 showed that his true height was 8'1". The book mentions a sort of kinship with two other Irish giants known simply as 'The Brothers Knipe' who both stood 7'2" each. They were recognised by the Guinness Book of World Records as the tallest identical twins in history.
en.wikipedia.org
His skeleton was on display at the Hunterien Museum in London from 1799 until it was removed from public display in 2023
"His gentle, likeable nature inspired an immense public fondness, and his celebrity life was constantly splashed across the newspapers of the day. "The wonderful Irish Giant... is the most extraordinary curiosity ever known, or ever heard of in history; and the curious in all countries where he has been shewn, pronounce him to be the finest display of Human nature they ever saw"
"O'Brien (Byrne) was related to another Irish giant in Patrick Cotter O'Brien of County Cork, who exhibited himself shortly after the death of Byrne, stating that he was 8'7" in height.
An exhumation of Patrick O'Brien's bones in 1972 showed that his true height was 8'1". The book mentions a sort of kinship with two other Irish giants known simply as 'The Brothers Knipe' who both stood 7'2" each. They were recognised by the Guinness Book of World Records as the tallest identical twins in history.