Morbid4 Sep 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.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(850)

The Matamoros Devil Murders (Part 2)

Visit https://www.markkilroyfoundation.org If you would like to donate to the Mark Kilroy Foundation. In March 1989, twenty-one-year-old University of Texas student Mark Kilroy and some friends travel...

25 Mai 54min

The Matamoros Devil Murders (Part 1)

In March 1989, twenty-one-year-old University of Texas student Mark Kilroy and some friends traveled south of the border to Matamoros, Mexico to celebrate the end of spring break, along with thousands...

21 Mai 59min

Episode Revisit: The Survival Story of Mary Vincent, Patron Saint of Badassery

Today we are revisiting episode 27 with an incredible tale of survival! Mary Vincent survived something so horrifying that most of us couldn't even conjure it up in our nightmares. Her attacker, Lawre...

18 Mai 49min

Episode Revisit: Torture

Today we are revisiting an oldie! Episode 13: Torture! It's been around since the beginning of time and it used to almost always involve a spike. Today, Alaina and Ash will discuss the various mediev...

14 Mai 1h 20min

Big news... HUGE!

Weirdos! We are officially teaming up with Hunt A Killer for a collaboration that’s about to drag you deep into a mystery worthy of a 3AM spiral and seventeen red-string conspiracy boards! Help us fig...

11 Mai 1min

The Watts Family Murders (Part 2)

When thirty-four-year-old Shanann Watts missed a doctor’s appointment on August 13, 2018, her friends reported her missing to the Frederick, Colorado Police. When officers searched the home, they foun...

11 Mai 2h 11min

The Watts Family Murders (Part 1)

7 Mai 1h 51min

True Crime: A Sit Down With Patricia Cornwell

Today we are joined by the legendary Patricia Cornwell! We dive into all things Scarpetta, the highly praisedTV adaptation of her iconic book series. We also get into the evolution of forensic science...

4 Mai 1h 11min