Mystery of Fossilized Irish Giant - Facts Analysis

Story:

Fossilized Irish Giant, Photo Taken At A London Rail Depot In 1895…The Man Had Stood 12 Feet 2 Inches

GENESIS 6:4 ….”There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.”

Evolutionists have attempted to call this a hoax but have yet to prove that it is. The specimen has since disappeared.

Other Versions

This photo of a ‘fossilized Irish giant’ was taken at a London rail depot, and appeared in the December 1895 issue of Strand Magazine. The giant was allegedly dug up by a Mr Dyer while prospecting for iron ore in County Antrim (Ireland).

It was 12 ft 2 in (3.71 m) tall, weighed 2 tonnes, and had 6 toes on its right foot. After being exhibited in Dublin, it was brought to England and exhibited in Liverpool and Manchester at sixpence a head, ‘attracting scientific men as well as gaping sightseers’. After a legal dispute over ownership, nothing more appears to have been heard or seen of the exhibit.

Facts Analysis:

The messages show a picture of a Giant Human form, claiming that it is a 12 feet 2 inches long Fossilized Irish Giant photographed at a rail depot and was never heard of later.

The Original Source

The source of all these claims is an article on website of BibleBelievers that talks about ‘Giant Humans and Dinosaurs‘, which says that the original source of of it is an article from December 1895 issue of The British Strand Magazine that was reprinted in a book called “Traces of the Elder Faiths of Ireland” written by W.G. Wood-Martin.

“Pre-eminent among the most extraordinary articles ever held by a railway company is the fossilized Irish giant, which is at this moment lying at the London and North-Western Railway Company’s Broad street goods depot, and a photograph of which is reproduced here. . . This monstrous figure is reputed to have been dug up by a Mr. Dyer whilst prospecting for iron ore in County Antrim.

The principal measurements are: entire length, 12ft. 2in.; girth of chest, 6ft. 6in.; and length of arms, 4ft. 6in. There are six toes on the right foot. The gross weight is 2 tons 15cwt.; so that it took half a dozen men and a powerful crane to place this article of lost property in position for the Strand magazine artist. Dyer, after showing the giant in Dublin, came to England with his queer find and exhibited it in Liverpool and Manchester at sixpence, sixpence a head, attracting scientific men as well as gaping sightseers”.

Print of the Fossilized Irish Giant from The Strand Magazine

The Actual Facts

W.G. Wood-Martin, who shared the original source of this article from The Strand Magazine did not actually believe in the claim and share it. He mentioned the story as printed in the magazine and then said – “let the reader judge as to the genuineness of the fossilized Irish giant” (You can see the picture from the book in above image). The original article in Strand Magazine, ‘Lost Property Office‘ written by William G. FitzGerald briefly mentioned the same story, followed by an ownership dispute between the two showmen.

It is mentioned that Mr. Dyer started a show business with the Giant, exhibiting it in Dublin and then in England. Later he induced a showman named Kershaw and sent this Giant from Manchester to London by rail. This is where the picture in question was taken. However, due to an ownership dispute and that the rail carriage charge was not paid, the Giant was left with the rail company and nothing was heard about it ever since.

There are few aspects that question the authenticity of this fossilized Irish Giant:

The Strand Magazine was primarily a fiction magazine, which sometimes used to publish puzzles and brain-teasers as well.
The only available proof of the story is the picture, which again is not sure to be precise. Couldn’t it be a carefully selected camera angle shot with the freight car in the background so as to make it appear Giant size?.
If the story was a fact and it became popular, then why there are no scientific examinations of this particular “fossil” before it was “lost.”
About the claimed weight of the Giant, 2 British tons and 15 cwt (Centrum weight) is equivalent to 6,160 pounds (considering 1 British ton equal to 2240 pounds), which is extraordinary.

Related Hoaxes in the Past

The Cardiff Giant is one of the most famous hoaxes about the existence of a 10-foot (3.0 m) tall “petrified man” that was claimed to have been unearthed on 16 October 1869, by workers digging a well in Cardiff, New York. It was a well planned hoax created by a tobacconist named George Hull, who got a 10 foot 4.5 inch long carving made from block of gypsum and then treated it with various stains and acids to make it appear like an old fossilized giant. Refer to the pictures in image section below, and also note the similarities between this Cardiff Giant and the fossilized Irish Giant.

Picture of Cardiff Giant — Cardiff Giant

The Cardiff Giant was believed to be real and became very popular, fetching thousands of dollars in the show business. It became so popular that a Showman named PT Barnum wanted to buy it for $50,000, and when he was refused, he hired a man and created another fake replica of the Cardiff Giant from wax and plaster for display in New York. He claimed that his was the real giant, and the Cardiff Giant was a fake. But eventually, both were later proved to be fake and hoax claims.

Another famous claim of Irish Giant is an 8 feet tall skeleton of Charles Byrne standing in the Hunterian Museum, but famous neurosurgeon Harvey Cushing suggested that he suffered from pituitary gigantism, which is possibly prevalent in ancient times as well.

In Conclusion

Considering the aforementioned questions about the authenticity of the fossilized Irish Giant, related hoaxes in the past, and the show business such mysterious claims generate, the story is possibly hoax. Even if Giant humans of this size existed in recent past, it could be a result of pituitary gigantism, which can be passed on genetically through a mutated gene.

Some smart businessmen and showmen would be definitely interested to create such hoax claims, as it can earn them fortune money and fame. And people often relate such things to biblical revelations; even like Mark Twain wrote about such giants in “A Ghost Story“, famous writers do use these giant humans as they make good fiction.