British academics took the skulls from Inishbofin in 1890.
Skulls thought to be 400 years old have been returned to the Irish island of Inishbofin after 133 years. The remains were stolen by British academics affiliated with Trinity College in 1890 and had been kept by the university ever since.
After years of campaigning by local historians and residents of Inishbofin, Trinity College returned the skulls to the island where they were reinterred on Sunday (16 June).
Trinity College has made a concerted effort to review its legacy in recent months. It is hoped that the repatriation of the skulls to Inishbofin will lead to the repatriation of remains from even further afield that are currently held by the university.
The skulls – taken from St Colman’s Monastery
The skulls were taken from St Colman’s Monastery on Inishbofin in 1890 by Alfred Haddon and Andrew Dixon. The two British academics affiliated with Trinity College visited the island ostensibly to carry out a fishing survey.
In reality, they intended to conduct a study in craniometry – the measurement of the cranium. The pair were interested in speculation on the ethnicity of those living in remote areas in Ireland, beyond the influential reach of the ruling British state.
Haddon and Dixon sketched the skulls – kept in a recess in the wall of the Teampall Chaomháin – St Kevin’s Church – before removing them and bringing them to Dublin.
Entries in Haddon’s diary detail how the pair brought the skulls to the mainland by pretending they were smuggling poitín. The skulls have been kept at Trinity College’s anatomy museum for the past 133 years.
The return – a campaign years in the making
Historian Maire Coyne runs a heritage museum on Inishbofin. She first became aware of the missing skulls ten years ago.
Coyne’s campaign began as a series of emails between her and Trinity College and culminated in a petition signed by almost all of the island’s 170-person population.
According to Coyne, some at Trinity College were reluctant to return the remains, but she and other petitioners “just kept pushing for getting them back”.
Coyne added, “You have to respect the dead. It’s not an artefact; they’re trying to put different names on these things. If you think, that’s your daughter, son, father, mother – and they were disrespected like that”.
Coyne escorted the skulls from Dublin to Athenry, County Galway, before they were transferred back to Inishbofin to be reinterred after a funeral mass.
“I just feel so relieved, and I’m so glad they’re back west,” said Coyne. “They [Trinity College] played ball in the end, it has happened, so it’s a relief”.
Trinity College – reviewing legacy issues
Trinity College – recently named in the top 100 universities in the world – established the Trinity Legacies Review Working Group in late 2022 to address legacy issues at the university.
One such issue was the name of the university’s Berkley Library: George Berkley, the man who gave the library its name, was a slave owner. The university has since de-named the library.
The return of the skulls to Inishbofin is another step in the right direction and hopefully sets a precedent for the return of further remains. Trinity College currently holds over 450 human remains from such nations as Nigeria, South Africa, Thailand, and Australia.
