Cornelius Magrath, ‘the Silvermines Giant’, was born on this day in 1737.
Magrath was at least 7 feet 2 inches tall at a time when the average man would have been two feet shorter. He was a fascination at “freak shows” all across Europe in the late 1750s.
The parents and siblings of Cornelius “were people of ordinary stature, but Cornelius, as he turned 15 years old, became seized with pains in his limbs and in the space of one year grew some 21 inches in stature”. In July 1752, when just over 15 years old, Cornelius Magrath went to Youghal to receive saltwater treatment which was thought to be a cure to alleviate his growing pains. Here large crowds began to take a curious interest in this “giant”.
The London Magazine in August 1752 stated: “there is now in this city one Cornelius Magrath, boy of 15 years, 11 months old, of a most gigantic stature, being 7 feet 9 inches three quarter high. He is clumsily made, talks boyish and simple, he comes hither from Youghal, where he has been a year going into the salt water for rheumatic pains which almost cripple him…”.
Cornelius was soon marketed as the “Irish Giant”. In less romantic terms, he was suffering from acromegaly, resulting from a disorder of the pituitary gland that produces too much growth hormone. “Giants” tended not to live for very long, and, although people, quite literally, looked up to them, they were hardly treated with great respect.
While in Youghal, he was persuaded to show himself off in return for money, so he headed to London in 1753 to launch his career. The “Daily Advertiser” from January 31st 1753, ran the following notice: “Just arrived in this city from Ireland, the youth, mentioned lately in the newspapers, as the most extraordinary production in nature. He is allowed by the nobility and gentry, who daily resort to see him, to have the most stupendous and gigantic form (although a boy), and is the only representation in the world of the ancient and magnificent giants of that kingdom…. He was sixteen years of age the 10th of last March and is to be seen at the ‘Peacock,’ at Charing Cross, from eight in the morning, till ten at night.”
Magrath went on from England to visit Paris and most of the larger cities in Europe, including Regensburg, Germany. Here in 1756, his portrait was engraved by Johann Nepomuk Maag beside a Prussian grenadier — Prussians being reckoned as the tallest soldiers in Europe at the time—and Magrath towers over him.
While in Flanders in the late 1750s, Magrath suffered from ill-health and was forced to return to Ireland. On 17th May 1760 Cornelius Magrath’s death at the age of just 23 was reported by The London Intelligencer. Some records show that his body was “donated to medical science” while others say that it was stolen by Trinity College Dublin students and taken to the Department of Anatomy, where he was duly dissected.
Whatever the circumstances, Magrath’s remains are still in the possession of the anatomy department at TCD today. There have been efforts to have his remains properly buried as the ethics of continuing to display them for educational or other purposes, are controversial at the least. The university remains adamant he "has taught a great many students, scientists, professors and experts" about the disease. However, Desmond O'Neil, professor in medical gerontology from Trinity College, believes it is "hard to justify the retention of his remains".
#otd #onthisdayintipp #corneliusmagrath #silverminesgiant #silvermines #gigantism
Sources:
https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/altitude-problem-an-irishman-s-diary-about-the-silvermines-giant-1.3303169
“Cornelius Mcgrath, the Silvermines Giant” by Breda Moloney – retrieved at https://www.ouririshheritage.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/1622915070953_Breda-Moloney-Cornelius-Mcgrath-Silvermines-Giant.pdf
https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/trinity-college-row-over-cornelius-the-skeleton-in-the-closet/35491772.html
https://mylesdungan.com/2018/01/19/on-this-day-19-1-1760-irish-giants/
