Cat Irving
@anatomicalcat.bsky.social
Human Remains Conservator at Surgeons’ Hall. Snake charmer. Beagle feeder. All-round general necromancer
Pinned
Cat Irving
@anatomicalcat.bsky.social
· Nov 17
Hello #bluesky!
What does a human remains conservator do?
I work at Surgeons’ Hall, Edinburgh (and other collections) to ensure human remains are correctly preserved and cared for. I also research the history of dissection and the variety of ways humanity has tried to stop decomposition
What does a human remains conservator do?
I work at Surgeons’ Hall, Edinburgh (and other collections) to ensure human remains are correctly preserved and cared for. I also research the history of dissection and the variety of ways humanity has tried to stop decomposition
I’ve shown anatomical models in wax, plaster, papier-mâché, plastic, and even ivory before - but this one is made from wood! It is larger than life-sized and there are over one hundred different pieces so it can be taken apart to show the anatomical layers
January 6, 2026 at 7:48 PM
I’ve shown anatomical models in wax, plaster, papier-mâché, plastic, and even ivory before - but this one is made from wood! It is larger than life-sized and there are over one hundred different pieces so it can be taken apart to show the anatomical layers
The Tooth Worm! People only really understood the cause of tooth decay in 19thC. Some thought worms caused this pain by gnawing into the teeth.This replica of an 18thC French Ivory of the tooth worm is in the Medical History Museum in Ingolstadt last year. Reminds me I need to go to the dentist…
January 5, 2026 at 8:07 PM
The Tooth Worm! People only really understood the cause of tooth decay in 19thC. Some thought worms caused this pain by gnawing into the teeth.This replica of an 18thC French Ivory of the tooth worm is in the Medical History Museum in Ingolstadt last year. Reminds me I need to go to the dentist…
As the snows fall, I’m thinking back to the skulls in Naples…
January 4, 2026 at 7:18 PM
As the snows fall, I’m thinking back to the skulls in Naples…
A papier-mâché model showing the anatomy of the ear massively enlarged. These structures are involved for hearing and balance, and include the smallest bones in the body.
January 3, 2026 at 7:04 PM
A papier-mâché model showing the anatomy of the ear massively enlarged. These structures are involved for hearing and balance, and include the smallest bones in the body.
Happy new year everyone! Hope you’re all feeling a bit more upbeat than St Jerome here. This is one of my Christmas books - looking forward to getting stuck in!
January 1, 2026 at 7:56 PM
Happy new year everyone! Hope you’re all feeling a bit more upbeat than St Jerome here. This is one of my Christmas books - looking forward to getting stuck in!
Reposted by Cat Irving
A very happy new year to you from we who linger in the cold halls of Castle Pieterstein. Raise a glass when the clocks strike thirteen!
December 31, 2025 at 6:55 PM
A very happy new year to you from we who linger in the cold halls of Castle Pieterstein. Raise a glass when the clocks strike thirteen!
Going into Hogmanay with my subtlest of earrings. Happy New Year folks!
December 31, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Going into Hogmanay with my subtlest of earrings. Happy New Year folks!
Reposted by Cat Irving
Have you ever wanted to study with me?
I run some great online courses through different institutions for good prices and the next ones start in January!
Why not come join me?
I'm putting all the details below!
Come if you're interested in the Gothic, popular romance, or women's writing
I run some great online courses through different institutions for good prices and the next ones start in January!
Why not come join me?
I'm putting all the details below!
Come if you're interested in the Gothic, popular romance, or women's writing
December 30, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Have you ever wanted to study with me?
I run some great online courses through different institutions for good prices and the next ones start in January!
Why not come join me?
I'm putting all the details below!
Come if you're interested in the Gothic, popular romance, or women's writing
I run some great online courses through different institutions for good prices and the next ones start in January!
Why not come join me?
I'm putting all the details below!
Come if you're interested in the Gothic, popular romance, or women's writing
Reposted by Cat Irving
Join me and the Viktor Wynd museum online 27th February as we'll still be in the thrall of Winter and I will be chatting about "minor" hauntings by child ghosts in literature & culture (access to recording for 2 weeks if you can't make it on the evening!) thelasttuesdaysociety.org/event/manife...
Spectral Embodiments: Manifesting and Visualising the Ghost Child - Dr Jen Baker - Zoom - The Last Tuesday Society
Spectral Embodiments: Manifesting and Visualising the Ghost Child This talk examines the transformation of the ghost-child figure from oral folklore and legends to their literary incarnations in Anglo...
thelasttuesdaysociety.org
December 27, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Join me and the Viktor Wynd museum online 27th February as we'll still be in the thrall of Winter and I will be chatting about "minor" hauntings by child ghosts in literature & culture (access to recording for 2 weeks if you can't make it on the evening!) thelasttuesdaysociety.org/event/manife...
Reposted by Cat Irving
Less than a year until my next talk for Romancing the Gothic. Get that date in your diaries!
December 27, 2025 at 1:03 AM
Less than a year until my next talk for Romancing the Gothic. Get that date in your diaries!
Happy roast potato day to all who celebrate.
December 25, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Happy roast potato day to all who celebrate.
Reposted by Cat Irving
Great talk with the expert and fellow Gothicist @anatomicalcat.bsky.social discussing the strange history of cadavers.
#cadavers #deathstudies #graves
#cadavers #deathstudies #graves
December 23, 2025 at 11:25 AM
Great talk with the expert and fellow Gothicist @anatomicalcat.bsky.social discussing the strange history of cadavers.
#cadavers #deathstudies #graves
#cadavers #deathstudies #graves
Delighted to have this published today in the Journal of the British Society for the History of Medicine
bshm.org.uk/wp-content/u...
bshm.org.uk/wp-content/u...
December 23, 2025 at 10:23 PM
Delighted to have this published today in the Journal of the British Society for the History of Medicine
bshm.org.uk/wp-content/u...
bshm.org.uk/wp-content/u...
Spot me, circa.2000.
One from the understandably locked archives of Castle Pieterstein where I am sporting a thankfully short-lived Jesus And Mary Chain haircut while @anatomicalcat.bsky.social goes full Goblin Mode.
December 22, 2025 at 11:53 PM
Spot me, circa.2000.
Superficial anatomy of the face in an eighteenth century wax model by Clemente Susini in La Specola, Florence
December 22, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Superficial anatomy of the face in an eighteenth century wax model by Clemente Susini in La Specola, Florence
Tomorrow!
This weekend I’ll be talking about some of my favourite cadaver afterlives for Romancing the Gothic @romgothsam.bsky.social It’s online at 10am and 7pm this Saturday.
You can get tickets for the morning edition here:
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/death-is-n...
You can get tickets for the morning edition here:
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/death-is-n...
Death is not the End: The Afterlives of Cadavers with Cat Irving
An exploration of the afterlives of a number of famous cadavers
www.eventbrite.co.uk
December 19, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Tomorrow!
An arch of bones in the chapel at the side of the Igreja de Sao Sebastiao in the beautifully seaside town of Lagos in Portugal.
December 17, 2025 at 8:20 PM
An arch of bones in the chapel at the side of the Igreja de Sao Sebastiao in the beautifully seaside town of Lagos in Portugal.
A modern model showing the anatomy of the mandible - featuring removable teeth with cavities!
December 16, 2025 at 7:30 PM
A modern model showing the anatomy of the mandible - featuring removable teeth with cavities!
A photo of the skull of Dante Alighieri from Fabio Frassetto’s 1933 book ‘Dantis Ossa’ (Dante’s bones). Since his death in 1321, his remains have been moved, hidden, lost, and examined. That he has had an eventful postmortem life is not unusual - and his is certainly not the strangest story.
December 15, 2025 at 8:02 PM
A photo of the skull of Dante Alighieri from Fabio Frassetto’s 1933 book ‘Dantis Ossa’ (Dante’s bones). Since his death in 1321, his remains have been moved, hidden, lost, and examined. That he has had an eventful postmortem life is not unusual - and his is certainly not the strangest story.
Reposted by Cat Irving
Our Human Remains Conservator
@anatomicalcat.bsky.social, will be joined by author Katherine Venables to discuss her book on her father Harry Walker’s experiences during the Burma campaign in the Second World War in our latest Dissecting the Author event.
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dissecting...
@anatomicalcat.bsky.social, will be joined by author Katherine Venables to discuss her book on her father Harry Walker’s experiences during the Burma campaign in the Second World War in our latest Dissecting the Author event.
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dissecting...
December 11, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Our Human Remains Conservator
@anatomicalcat.bsky.social, will be joined by author Katherine Venables to discuss her book on her father Harry Walker’s experiences during the Burma campaign in the Second World War in our latest Dissecting the Author event.
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dissecting...
@anatomicalcat.bsky.social, will be joined by author Katherine Venables to discuss her book on her father Harry Walker’s experiences during the Burma campaign in the Second World War in our latest Dissecting the Author event.
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dissecting...
Reposted by Cat Irving
Join our Human Remains Conservator
@anatomicalcat.bsky.social to explore the history of Gonorrheoa and why it became commonly known as The Clap.
@anatomicalcat.bsky.social to explore the history of Gonorrheoa and why it became commonly known as The Clap.
December 11, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Join our Human Remains Conservator
@anatomicalcat.bsky.social to explore the history of Gonorrheoa and why it became commonly known as The Clap.
@anatomicalcat.bsky.social to explore the history of Gonorrheoa and why it became commonly known as The Clap.
Appropriate decor in our hotel tonight…
December 7, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Appropriate decor in our hotel tonight…
Decomposition! My job is to stop it but I saw it regularly back in the days when I worked in the mortuary. This isn’t real, however, but made of wax in the late 17thC. It was produced by a Sicilian wax modeler named Gaetano Giulio Zumbo for the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosimo de Mexico.
December 3, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Decomposition! My job is to stop it but I saw it regularly back in the days when I worked in the mortuary. This isn’t real, however, but made of wax in the late 17thC. It was produced by a Sicilian wax modeler named Gaetano Giulio Zumbo for the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosimo de Mexico.
Reposted by Cat Irving
Am really looking forward to this - if you're interested in archive research, ghost stories or even my insane story as to how I overcame a decade of homelessness and heroin addiction to get to where I am today, please buy a ticket!
If you love your Xmas ghost stories, then we'll be hosting an online launch for this new anthology of fearful festive tales that were almost lost to the mists of time... ILLUSIONS OF PRESENCE is here, and you can join us for some spookiness on the 18th December! www.eventbrite.com/e/illusions-...
November 28, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Am really looking forward to this - if you're interested in archive research, ghost stories or even my insane story as to how I overcame a decade of homelessness and heroin addiction to get to where I am today, please buy a ticket!