The remains of 13 Inishbofin residents, which were stolen in 1890, have been reinterred on the island.
The skulls were removed by anthropologist Alfred Haddon and his colleague Andrew Dixon, exactly 133 years ago today.
They were taken to Trinity College in Dublin, where they remained on display, or in storage, ever since.
The institution only agreed to hand back the remains to islanders this year, following a lengthy campaign to secure their return.
After being given to a delegation of residents on Wednesday last, the skulls were placed in a coffin and transported to Galway.
They were taken back to Inishbofin last evening and brought to St Colman's Church, where they laid in repose overnight.
The remains were reinterred following a funeral mass this afternoon.
Islanders have prepared a burial plot for the coffin in the shadow of the ruins of the church from which their predecessors were taken on 16 July 1890.
Located just metres from the alcove where the skulls had been stored, the site is nestled in a corner of what is known as the new cemetery on Inishbofin.
Today's events have been described as being of enormous historical significance by Ciarán Walsh, the visual arts curator who led research into the theft and journey of the stolen remains.
He has expressed hope that other stolen remains in the Haddon and Dixon collection will be returned to their communities in south Kerry and na hOileáin Árann. Trinity College has said it would consider requests in this regard.
Inishbofin resident Marie Coyne, who drove the effort locally to have the skulls brought home, said islanders had succeeded in righting a wrong, perpetrated in the 19th Century
"To steal human remains, was wrong to start with. This is our island. They're our people, and they shouldn't be kept in a cabinet, you know, in Trinity, they were resting here and should have been left here, but they didn't get that chance. Now, they deserve to get that chance."
It is thought the remains date from the mid-16th to mid-17th centuries, with the oldest dated to around 1550.
President Michael D Higgins will be represented at the reinterment by his Aide de Camp, Colonel Stephen Howard.
Cathaoirleach of Galway County Council Liam Carroll will represent the local authority at the service.
