The Murder of Bridget Cleary
Morbid4 Syys 2023

The Murder of Bridget Cleary

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.

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.

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?

References

Bourke, Angela. 1999. The Burning of Bridget Cleary: A True Story. London, UK: Pimlico.

Freeman's Journal. 1895. "Strange death near Clonmel." Freeman's Journal, March 25.

Irish Times. 1999. "Burning Bridget." Irish Times, August 7: B24.

n.a. 1917. The Tipperary Witch Case. Toronto, ON: McGill University.

New York Times. 1895. "A with burner sentenced." New York Times, July 6: 5.

—. 1895. "Not witches, but fairies." New York Times, April 22: 4.

Ruxton, Dean. 2016. "The story of the last 'witch' bruned alive in Ireland." Irish Times, November 24.

Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)

Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)

Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley

Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally

Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jaksot(820)

The Yogurt Shop Murders

The Yogurt Shop Murders

Just before midnight on December 6, 1991, an Austin, TX patrol officer called in a fire at a yogurt shop and requested firefighters and additional officers. Once they managed to get the fire under con...

11 Joulu 20251h 42min

The Onion Field Incident

The Onion Field Incident

On the night of March 9, 1963, officers Karl Hettinger and Ian Campbell made a traffic stop on the corner of Carlos Avenue and Gower Street and Hollywood. After Campbell instructed both men to step ou...

8 Joulu 20251h 20min

The Stallings Family Haunting

The Stallings Family Haunting

When Ron and Nancy Stallings found the old Victorian on Evergreen Street in Baltimore, they thought their dreams had come true. With each bringing three kids from a previous marriage into the relation...

4 Joulu 202557min

Emma Cunningham and the Murder of Harvey Burdell

Emma Cunningham and the Murder of Harvey Burdell

On the morning of January 31, 1857, the body of Dr. Harvey Burdell was discovered in his Manhattan townhouse with fifteen stab wounds, and his killer had also strangled him to guarantee his death. Sus...

1 Joulu 20251h 9min

Episode Revisit: Fairy Lights, Witches & Curses OH MY!

Episode Revisit: Fairy Lights, Witches & Curses OH MY!

For Ash's second Episode Revisit, we are heading back to the most wonderful time of the year, SPOOKY SEASON back in 2022! Alaina gives us Southern Gothic while Ash confirms that she's a #HannaTruther!...

27 Marras 20251h

Episode Revisit: The Unexplained Death of Ellen Rae Greenberg

Episode Revisit: The Unexplained Death of Ellen Rae Greenberg

For Today's re-release, we are revisiting a case from September of 2021: In this episode Ash brings you the truly infuriating case of Ellen Greenberg. Ellen was a beautiful, caring 27 year old woman w...

24 Marras 202558min

Listener Tales 104: Your Grandparents Might Be Criminals!

Listener Tales 104: Your Grandparents Might Be Criminals!

We COULDN"T skip Listener Tales this month, so we HAD to give it to you one week early, so prepare for a batch of tales that are brought to you BY you, FOR you, FROM you and ALLLLL about you! Today we...

20 Marras 202556min

The Death of Cork Miller: Accident or Murder

The Death of Cork Miller: Accident or Murder

In the early morning hours of October 8, 1964, thirty-four-year-old housewife and mother of three Lucille Miller placed a frantic call to the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department to report that there h...

17 Marras 20251h 8min

Suosittua kategoriassa Komedia

nikotellen
tuplakaak
anni-jaajo
antin-matka
olipa-kerran-otsikko
ihan-oikeesti
rss-saarinen-shoy
antin-palautepalvelu
antin-elokuvakerho
puurojengi
rss-kaheli
rss-nikotellen
rss-napy
ela-viitti
rss-tuhannes-podcast
naakkavalta
rss-kuukka-vehvilainen-hartlin
kasper-ja-mikko-suomen-suosituin-podcast
everypodi
mysteeripodcast