The Giant of Antrim, Ireland: Biblical Titan or Colossal Hoax?
The image and descriptive article of the purported Irish petrified giant of Antrim, have made the rounds on the internet as proof of the existence of ancient giants for several years. Renown authors on the subject of giants, Hugh Newman and Jim Vieira have taken a deep dive investigating this case to figure out if there is any truth to the claims. The photo of the ‘fossilized Irish giant’ was taken at a London rail depot, and appeared in the December 1895 issue of Strand Magazine, a British publication.
The photograph of the Antrim Giant published in The Strand Magazine in 1895. (Kadumago/ CC BY-SA 4.0)
The giant was claimed to have been dug up by a Mr Dyer while prospecting for iron ore in County Antrim (Ireland). The full account from the Strand Magazine reads: “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 Co. Antrim. The principal measurements are: Entire length, 12ft. 2in.; girth of chest, 6ft. 6.5.in.; and length of arms, 4ft. 6 in. There are six toes on the right foot. The gross weight is 2 tons 15 cwt.; 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 a head, attracting scientific men as well as gaping sightseers. Business increased and the showman induced a man named Kershaw to purchase a share in the concern. In 1876, Dyer sent this giant from Manchester to London by rail; the sum of £4 2s. 6d. being charged for carriage by the company, but never paid. Evidently Kershaw knew nothing of the removal of the ‘show’, for when he discovered it he followed in hot haste, and, through a firm of London solicitors, moved the Court of Chancery to issue an order restraining the company from parting with the giant, until the action between Dyer and himself to determine the ownership was disposed of. The action was never brought to an issue.”
The Giant’s Causeway ( aitormmfoto/ Adobe Stock)
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Related To Biblical Giants
An interesting part of the story is that the giant is cited to have six toes on the right foot, those familiar with biblical giant lore will know the following passage in 2 Samuel 21:20, “And there was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number, and he also was descended from the giants.” Was this a hoaxer trying to add a little spice to the giant or was this an indication of its authenticity? The first red flag experienced here is that the Strand Magazine was mostly a fiction magazine. Adding to that, since nobody seems to know whatever happened to the giant, it looks remarkably like one of the greatest hoaxes in history: the Cardiff Giant, which has a curious link to the Irish Giant.
The Cardiff Giant being exhumed during October 1869. (Public Domain)
The Great Cardiff Giant Hoax
The Cardiff Giant was arguably the most famous hoax in American history. It was a 10-foot-tall (three meters) purported ‘petrified man’ uncovered on October 16, 1869, by workers digging a well behind the barn of William C. "Stub" Newell in Cardiff, NY. The giant is currently on display at The Farmer’s Museum in Cooperstown, NY. The giant was the creation of a New York tobacconist named George Hull. Hull, an atheist, decided to create the giant after an argument at a Methodist revival meeting about Genesis 6:4, which states that there were giants who once lived on earth. Hull hired men to quarry out a 10-foot-4.5-inch-long block of gypsum in Fort Dodge, Iowa, telling them it was intended for a monument to Abraham Lincoln in New York. He shipped the block to Chicago, where he hired Edward Burghardt, a German stonecutter, to carve it into the likeness of a man and swore him to secrecy.
