The remains have been returned safely to their final resting place.
400-year-old skulls have been returned to the island of Inishbofin after being stolen over a century ago and housed in Trinity College Dublin.
The thirteen skulls were taken in the dead of night in 1890 by two British academics, Alfred Haddon and Andrew Dixon, where they were then brought to and housed in the Dublin university for over a century.
However, a successful campaign by locals of the island off Connemara has brought the remains back to their home, where a ceremony took place on Sunday, which marked the exact day they were stolen 113 years ago.
Leader of the campaign and Inishbofin resident, Marie Coyne, told Sky News: “It’s the full stop at the end of a sentence. This journey has gone on so long, that’s why we’ve all been waiting and hoping and all them emotions.
“And now it’s just stopped. We can relax. It’s taken place.”
Journal entries from the anthropologists reveal how the duo came to the island pretending to be carrying out a fishing survey. They then smuggled the skulls off the island in a sack, claiming it was actually storing poitín.
The great granddaughter of Alfred Haddon was present for the poignant re-homing of the remains, and she apologised on behalf of the family for the theft.
“I would like to say sorry to the islands of Inishbofin for this act. I’m really glad we can right this wrong.”
The skulls were driven across the country from Trinity in a hearse, where they were then loaded on to a ferry to make their final journey across the sea.
The repatriation of the skulls is the first example of such an act in Ireland, with the hope being that there are many similar returns to be made. Nearly 500 human remains taken from countries all over the world are being held by Trinity College still.
Fresh scrutiny has been put on museums in recent years as we re-evaluate the ethics and morals of housing artifacts and remains from other countries, particularly in the West, as a result of colonialism and other factors.
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