Bones of Contention
jor stately home in the area, Springhill House, where he was welcomed
with fascination and acclaim. He decided to leave Northern Ireland in
pursuit of adventure and wealth and began exhibiting himself as a human
curiosity in Scotland, swiftly making a successful impression upon the
public. By early 1782 he had arrived in London, where he would remain
until his death.
His name quickly became a common feature of London celebrity life,
as newspapers set about reporting upon his demeanour and lifestyle to
an interested public. In his London publicity and associated media coverage Byrne often took the stage name ‘Charles O’Brien’. The popular
Irishman was also frequently described as ‘the wonderful Irish giant’:
“Just arrived in London”, The Morning Herald declared grandly, “[is t]
he wonderful Irish Giant… [H]e is the most extraordinary curiosity ever
known, or ever heard of in history” (The Morning Herald 17 July 1782).
By the middle of 1782 the city’s new arrival had inspired a theatre piece
that was soon playing to large audiences at London’s Haymarket Theatre, Harlequin Teague. All of this reinforced a public desire to meet the
acclaimed giant in person, and thus business was thriving in the modest
Charring-Cross rooms where Byrne was exhibiting himself to the paying
public.
As his success intensified, however, so too did the negative impacts of
his acromegalic gigantism.2 It has also been speculated that he contracted tuberculosis; some supporting historical evidence is provided by a
mention of Byrne suffering ‘consumption’3 in Tom Taylor’s Leicester
Square (Taylor 1874: 404). At the age of 22 a culmination of his ailments coincided with the unfortunate theft of his money. While drinking
in a public house near his home one evening in April 1783, £700 was
pickpocketed from his person, a vast proportion of the giant’s earnings.
Byrne immediately entered into a swift state of physical and emotional
decline and died two months later.
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