The case of the missing skulls from Inishbofin
Updated / Wednesday, 14 Apr 2021
13:57
The Haddon Dixon Collection in the Skull Passage in Old Anatomy. Each skull was kept in a protective cover and labelled with its catalogue number in preparation for a conservation programme that is ongoing. Photo: Ciaran Walsh
Analysis: The colonial legacies of universities and museums have become an issue, especially culturally sensitive material like human remains in anthropological collections that were tainted by colonial violence and scientific racism.
John Millington Synge poked fun at colonial science in The Playboy of the Western World when he referred to an anthropological collection in TCD. Did you never hear tell, Jimmy asked Philly of the skulls they have in the city of Dublin, ranged out like blue jugs in a cabin of Connaught?