The discovery sparked immediate local interest, as tradition held that a sailor of extraordinary size had washed ashore and been buried somewhere on the island a century or two earlier. When a pathologist examined the bones and estimated the individual stood at an remarkable 7 feet, 9 inches tall, it seemed the local legend had been confirmed. The remains were quietly reinterred in the island cemetery at Reilig Naomh Bridhge, where they lay undisturbed for over sixty years.

In 2017, researchers from Queen’s University Belfast exhumed the skeleton as part of a study into historical cases of gigantism in Ireland. Their findings, however, told a different story entirely. Modern osteological analysis revealed the bones belonged to a young man between 18 and 35 years old who stood approximately 6 feet, 1 inch tall; tall for his time perhaps, but certainly no giant. Evidence of Schmorl’s nodes and spondylolysis in his vertebrae suggested he had lived a physically demanding life, whilst radiocarbon dating placed his death between AD 603 and 685, firmly within Ireland’s Early Medieval period.

The investigation transformed what had been accepted as a relatively recent maritime tragedy into something far more ancient and mysterious. Rather than a shipwrecked sailor from the age of sail, this was likely an early medieval islander, buried over 1,300 years ago on this small Donegal island. After the scientific analysis was complete, the remains were respectfully reburied in a new coffin, returning to their rest with their true story finally told.