Episode 491: The Murder of Bridget Cleary

<p>On March 15, 1895, thirty-five-year-old Michael Cleary murdered his wife, twenty-six-year-old Bridget Cleary in their home in Ballyvadlea, County Tipperary. While terrible, the murder was just the last act in a series of bizarre atrocities committed against Bridget, whom her husband would later claim had been taken by malevolent fairy folk and replaced with a changeling.</p><p>More shocking, however, was that the barbaric act hadn’t been committed by one man alone, but by a group of rural men, including family.&nbsp;</p><p>Was Bridget Cleary really murdered out of fear of fairies? Or had Michael Cleary just convinced himself of as much in order to commit murder?</p><p>References</p><p>Bourke, Angela. 1999. <em>The Burning of Bridget Cleary: A True Story.</em> London, UK: Pimlico.</p><p>Freeman's Journal. 1895. "Strange death near Clonmel." <em>Freeman's Journal</em>, March 25.</p><p>Irish Times. 1999. "Burning Bridget." <em>Irish Times</em>, August 7: B24.</p><p>n.a. 1917. <em>The Tipperary Witch Case.</em> Toronto, ON: McGill University.</p><p>New York Times. 1895. "A with burner sentenced." <em>New York Times</em>, July 6: 5.</p><p>—. 1895. "Not witches, but fairies." <em>New York Times</em>, April 22: 4.</p><p>Ruxton, Dean. 2016. "The story of the last 'witch' bruned alive in Ireland." <em>Irish Times</em>, November 24.</p><p>See Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.</p>