The remains of Charles Byrne, who was known as the Irish giant after having suffered from a growth disorder over 200 years ago, should be buried at sea according to his wishes, according to academics who have studied his remains for medical research, the Telegraph reports.

The skeleton of the Irish giant has been on display at the Royal College of Surgeons for almost two centuries.

Byrne, who was born in County Derry in 1761, suffered from acromegaly or an excess of growth hormone. He died at 22 after travelling to London in 1780.

Prior to his death, Byrne had asked that he be buried at sea, sealed in a lead coffin.

But a surgeon who collected unusual specimens took interest in his corpse and resorted to bribery to get Byrne's body.

The surgeon, John Hunter, boiled the body down to its skeleton before displaying it in his museum.

In the British Medical Journal, Thomas Muinzer and Professor Len Doyal expressed Byrne's dying wishes should now be met to morally rectify history.

"The fact is that Hunter knew of Byrne's terror of him and ignored his wishes for the disposal of his body. What has been done cannot be undone but it can be morally rectified. Surely it is time to respect the memory and reputation of Byrne: the narrative of his life, including the circumstances surrounding his death," Muinzer and Doyal wrote.

"We have now a full DNA record of Byrne's DNA and we also have numerous examinations of the skeleton. We have reached the limit of what that skeleton can teach us," Muinzer told BBC.

Muinzer, from the school of law at Queen's University Belfast, has described the exhibition of Byrne's skeleton as "sad, tragic and morbid."