Episode 17: Bridget Cleary

Welcome back!

In episode 17, Aoife returns to talk about the death of Bridget Cleary, and the power of Irish folklore in the 19th century.

Bridget Boland and Michael Cleary

Holland Roden as Bridget in Lore Episode 3, 'Black Stockings' (2017)

Source list:

Ruxton, Dean. “The Story of the Last ‘Witch’ Burned Alive in Ireland.” The Irish Times.

The Man Who Burned His Wife to Death ‘for Being a Witch’ - The Independent.

“Bridget Cleary Burned to Death.” - Library Ireland. 

“Are You a Witch or Are You a Fairy? - Irish Children’s Songs - Ireland - Mama Lisa’s World: Children’s Songs and Rhymes from Around the World.”

Watch Lore - Season 1 | Prime Video.

Porcelain - Abbey Theatre. 

"The Bizarre Death of Bridget Cleary, the Irish ‘Fairy Wife'" - Mental Floss

Fairy Faith and Changeling: The Burning of Bridget Cleary in 1985 - Thomas McGrath 

Much of the sources of this episode came from the Irish Times Newspaper Archive. This is only accessible to subscribers. I'm happy to forward copies of what I read to anyone interested, send an email. I read the Thomas McGrath article on JStor. Don't worry if it's paywalled and you can't access it, the Dean Ruxton article cites a lot of it.