Bridget Cleary

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Bridget Cleary (Irish: Bríd Ní Chléirigh) was an Irish woman murdered by her husband in 1895. The homicide is notable for several peculiarities. The stated motive for the crime was her husband's belief that she had been abducted by fairies, and a changeling left in her place; he claimed to have slain only the changeling. Its gruesome nature -- Cleary was immolated, either causing or immediately following her death -- prompted extensive press coverage, at a time when her country's prospects for self-government were being hotly contested, and in a period in which folklore (such as fairies) had become a focus of Irish nationalists. The trial was closely followed by newspapers across the United Kingdom. As one reviewer commented,^[1] nobody, with the possible exception of the presiding judge, thought it was an ordinary murder case.

Contents 1 Early life 2 "Disappearance" 3 Trial 4 Aftermath 5 Sources and further reading 6 Notes

[edit] Early life

Cleary was born Bridget Boland around 1870 in Ballyvadlea, near Clonmel, Ireland.^[2] She married Michael Cleary in August 1887. The couple met in Clonmel in August 1887, where Michael was working as a cooper and Bridget was serving as a dressmaker's apprentice.

Bridget married unusually young for the period; many Irish women married later due to the growing influence of the Catholic church at this time. After the marriage, Bridget returned her hometown of Ballyvadlea to live with her parents, while Michael continued to work as a cooper in Clonmel. During this period of living apart, Bridget's independence grew, with her keeping her own flock of chickens and selling the eggs to neighbours. Somewhat unusually for the era and location, she was also a professional woman. She obtained a Singer sewing machine, state of the art at the time, and was variously described as a dressmaker and a milliner, or maker of ladies' hats.

Despite their eight years of marriage, the couple had had no children by the time of Bridget's death.

Following the death of Bridget's mother, the Clearys found themselves responsible for Bridget's elderly father, Patrick Boland. His residence with the couple enabled them to secure a house reserved for labourers. Neither Bridget nor Michael was entitled to this cottage, but as Patrick had been a labourer in his youth, they were able to acquire the best house in the village. However, there was not widespread interest in the house, as it was built on the site of a supposed fairy ringfort. Even though most residents in Ballyvadlea at this time were Catholics, many folk traditions were still strong.

[edit] "Disappearance"

Bridget was reported missing in March 1895. She evidently had been ill for several days, although her specific diagnosis is unknown.^[3] More than a week into her illness, on 13 March 1895, a physician visited her at her home; her condition was considered sufficiently grave that a priest soon followed, to administer last rites. Several of her friends and family members attended her over the next two days, and a number of home remedies were administered, including one ritual that anticipated her later demise: Patrick and Michael accused her of being a fairy sent to take Bridget's place, and so urine was thrown on her, and she was carried before the fireplace to cast the fairy out.

By 16 March, rumors were beginning to circulate that Bridget was missing, and the local police began searching for her. Michael was quoted as claiming that his wife had been taken by fairies, and he appeared to be holding a vigil. Witness statements were gathered over the ensuing week, and by the time Bridget Cleary's burnt corpse was found in a shallow grave on 22 March, nine people had been charged in her disappearance, including her husband. A coroner's inquest the next day returned a verdict of death by burning.

[edit] Trial

Legal hearings ran from 1 April through 6 April 1895. A tenth person had been charged, and one of the original nine was discharged at this stage, leaving nine defendants bound over for trial. The court session began on 3 July, and the grand jury indicted five of the defendants for murder, including Michael. All nine were indicted for "wounding." The case proceeded on to trial.

The evidence showed that on 15 March, Michael summoned the priest, Father Ryan, back to the Cleary household. Ryan found Bridget alive but agitated. Michael told Ryan that he had not been giving his wife the medicine prescribed by the doctor, because he had no faith in it. According to Ryan, "Cleary then said, 'People may have some remedy of their own that might do more good than doctor's medicine,' or something to that effect." Bridget was given communion, and Ryan departed. Later that night, neighbors and relatives returned to the Cleary house. An argument ensued, again tinged with fairy mythology. At some point, Bridget told Michael that the only person who'd gone off with the fairies had been his mother. Michael attempted to force-feed his wife, throwing her down on the ground before the kitchen fireplace and menacing her with a burning piece of wood. Bridget's chemise caught fire, and Michael then threw lamp oil on Bridget. The witnesses were unclear as to whether she was already dead by this point. Michael kept the others back from her body as it burned, insisting that she was a changeling and had been for a week previously, and that he would get his wife back from the fairies.

Michael Cleary was found guilty of manslaughter, and spent 15 years in prison. His co-defendants were convicted of wounding.

[edit] Aftermath

Bridget Cleary's death has remained famous in popular culture. An Irish nursery rhyme reads,

Are you a witch, or are you a fairy,/Or are you the wife of Michael Cleary?

Her death is also notable in more serious historical contexts: She is popularly described as the "the last witch burned in Ireland,"^[4], or as the subject of the last of the witchcraft trials,^[5] although it has been noted^[6] that Bridget was never actually described as having consorted with the devil, which is customary with accused witches. Instead, she was thought to have been replaced by a fairy changeling mark.

Bridget's death and the publicity surrounding the trial were regarded as being politically significant at the time. Irish home rule was an active political issue in the United Kingdom; William E. Gladstone's Liberal Party had come to power on a Home Rule platform, but had relatively recently^[7] lost its latest Irish Government Bill in the House of Lords. The press coverage of the Cleary murder trial occurred in an atmosphere of debate over the Irish people's ability to govern themselves. The coroner who examined Bridget's corpse claimed that "amongst Hottentots one would not expect to hear of such an occurrence."^[8]

A course at Sussex University, entitled "1895: The Murder of Bridget Cleary," examines the case with particular emphasis on the influence of Irish cultural changes in the 19th century and their ramifications for modern Ireland.

[edit] Sources and further reading

Bourke, Angela, The Burning of Bridget Cleary. New York: Penguin, 1999.

Hoff, Joan and Yeates, Marian, The Cooper's Wife Is Missing: The Trials of Bridget Cleary. New York: Basic Books, 2000 (original), 2006 (paperback reprint).

[edit] Notes