Bridget Cleary (née Boland) was born in 1869 and murdered on the 15th of March 1895 at roughly 26 years old by her husband – Michael Cleary – for being a Changeling.

Are you a witch, or are you a fairy?

Or are you the wife of Michael Cleary?

While researching Changelings, I discovered that eight people brutally murdered a woman. Included in these eight were her husband and three (or four) of her cousins. 

This gruesome case begins in Ballyvadlea, Tipperary, Ireland, where Bridget Boland was born to Mr & Mrs Boland. Her father was named Patrick Boland, but I can’t find any mention of her mother’s name. Bridget was described as a physically and personally beautiful woman and a wonderful wife. Bridget was married to Michael Cleary, who was nine years her senior, some sources state they were married in 1887. The couple had no children. 

Changelings – a sick or elderly fairy who exchanged places with a human. Most stories centre around children rather than adults.

***Ye Be Warned!***

CONTENT WARNING

This story is an actual crime case that links into the subject of Changelings. This post details how the victim died and the state of her body.

SECTION TO AVOID: Bridget Cleary’s Disappearance & Death

If you want the notes, please go to the Facts At A Glance section which has the information in less detail.

Thank you.

Bridget Cleary’s Married Life

Bridget Cleary worked as a dressmaker’s apprentice, unusual for a woman to have a profession. Michael Cleary was a cooper. The couple met and got married in Clonmel. Shortly after the wedding, Bridget returned to Ballyvadlea, while Michael continued his work as a cooper in Clonmel. 

This separation allowed Bridget to experience independence as she kept her chickens, making money from them by selling their eggs. While in Ballyvadlea, she lived with her elderly father, Patrick, which gave the couple security by giving them a place to stay. Patrick was a labourer in his youth. Therefore, he was entitled to the village’s best homes reserved for labourers.

The couple were happy around the town/village as Michael earned a decent wage, with Bridget making money through dressmaking and egg-selling. Bridget was resourceful, indicating she was efficient at saving money. Rural society had been mainly agriculture-based, meaning Bridget was literate, independent, and fashionable. Something this side of society wasn’t accustomed to.

Bridget Cleary’s Faerie Fascination & Sickness

This beautiful tale would soon come to a tragic end, twisting Bridget’s fascination into the motive for her grotesque death. 

Bridget was fascinated with the fae world, often visiting places said to be visited by the fair folk. She visited one of these spots (called a fairy fort) as she usually did while delivering eggs to Jack Dunne, her father’s cousin.

Her last visit to the fairy fort happened on Monday 4th of March 1895 (according to most online sites). By Saturday 9th, March 1895, her father walked roughly four miles in heavy rain to request a doctor to visit her as she was under the weather. 

Unfortunately, the doctor couldn’t see Bridget until next Wednesday. By then, Michael had been to the doctor twice, requesting that the Doctor make a house call to Bridget. 

Bridget Cleary’s Treatment & Husband’s Suspicions

On Wednesday, the Doctor arrives at the home of Michael, Bridget and Patrick. Upon examining Bridget, the Doctor concludes his diagnosis as “nervous excitement and slight bronchitis” (“Bridget Cleary”, 2021), but his diagnosis didn’t sit well with Michael. He was convinced that the woman who lay in his home was “too fine” and “two inches taller” than his wife, Bridget. 

Michael, who was probably aware of Bridget’s fascination with the Fair Folk, concluded that a Changeling had replaced the woman he loved and married while she was delivering eggs to Jack Dunne about a week and a half before the Doctor’s visit. 

After the doctor’s visit, which the diagnosis for the time meant she was gravely ill, a Priest came to her home to administer the last rites. Friends and family also made house visits over the next couple of days, all under the impression that their loved ones would be taken from them by an illness within a short time. Home remedies, such as urine being thrown on her and laying her in front of a fire to rid her body of the fairy, were used to make her feel comfortable and help her get better. 

Bridget Cleary’s Disappearance & Death

On March 16th, only a few days after the Doctor had visited, rumours had started floating around the small community that Bridget had gone missing. The Police (or whatever the law enforcement agency equivalent at the time) got involved in the rumours, presumably because no one had seen the ordinarily happy and lively Bridget in a few days. 

The Police found Michael, apparently holding a vigil for his wife, and when asked what had happened to her, he told a story of how faeries had taken her. Other witness statements were taken over the next week on the whereabouts of Bridget before her body was found.

On March 22nd, Bridget’s burnt body was found in a shallow grave. The shallow grave was in the fields of Ballyvadlea, Ireland, where the Police had spent the week searching for her. Someone covered in clay and thorn bushes; however, that did little to hide the true horror of her final moments. 

The coroner concluded that the cause of death was burning. She was severely burned so that bones could be seen at her “spine and lower limbs” (J. Pérez Cuervo 2018), and was entirely naked except for a stocking, an earring and her head was covered with a sack. 

The Police charged her husband and eight or nine others with her murder. The exact number differs depending on the sources. Some sources say that a tenth person was charged with a crime, and one of the original nine people was discharged at some point during the trial.

Justice For Bridget Cleary

Johanna Burke, Bridget’s cousin, provided a witness testimony in court describing Bridget’s relentless mistreatment and subsequent murder, going against her mother and four brothers. She had arrived at the Cleary home for a visit when she was caught in the middle of a grotesque act.

Johanna told the court how Michael would rant and rave about how Bridget wasn’t his wife, how she was a witch or changeling, and that he must get rid of her. This line of thinking explains her manner of death as killing or burning a changeling is said to bring your loved one back according to the traditional stories and mythology. 

One of the others charged, the Cleary’s neighbour, Jack Dunne, was said to be very knowledgeable in faerie folklore, and so it’s believed he planted this seed of thought in Michael’s head. Whether this was on purpose or simply accidentally is unknown. 

Michael’s mother was said to have suffered a similar affliction where she had ‘gone off with the faeries’; therefore, Michael, even as an adult, was fully prepared to believe that his wife had fallen to the same fate. However, Michael appears to have been determined not to lose his wife the same way.

It’s reported that the trial was held in the same place Bridget’s body was held until she could be buried. The location gave the jury a unique opportunity to see the horrific aftermath of the murder.

Nine people were convicted of “wounding” Bridget Cleary, with Michael Cleary receiving additional charges, including manslaughter. 

Some of those convicted had their charges dropped, with only four retaining them. Michael was sentenced to 15 years in prison. He was at a maximum-security prison in Ireland called  Maryborough Gaol which changed its name to Portlaoise Prison in 1929. 

After being released from prison on April 28th 1910, Cleary moved to Liverpool. Later that year, he emigrated to Montreal.

The Legacy of Bridget Cleary

Recently, Bridget Cleary has been remembered more commonly memorialised in a nursery rhyme.

Are you a witch, or are you a fairy

Or are you the wife of Michael Cleary?

The Irish Times has recently reviewed its archives and done another online article on the case to bring more attention to it again. 

At the time, her murder was used in England to represent the brutal nature that some English parties wanted to convey to the Irish as such people. However, the Irish people attempted to separate themselves from this image as a few people did this act.

Some have also described this case as Folie à deux. Dunne and Cleary sharing the delusion first and quickly pulling in the other people involved, including other family members.

Facts At A Glance

• Bridget was 26 years old when she died.
• Location: Ballyvadlea, Tipperary, Ireland.
• Bridget frequently visited locations where faeries were said to be.
• Bridget fell ill between Monday 4th of March 1895, and Saturday 9th, March 1895. The Doctor was sent for her.
• The Doctor saw her the following Wednesday and concluded his diagnosis as “nervous excitement and slight bronchitis” (“Bridget Cleary” 2021) 
• A few days later, rumours started around the town/village that Bridget had gone missing.
• Michael Cleary (Bridget’s Husband) was unconvinced of the diagnosis and believed her to be a faerie.
• Michael, Jack Dunne (a faerie/mythology enthusiast), and other family members brutally tortured and murdered Bridget.
• Michael claimed that this had to be done to get the real Bridget back.
• According to Changeling folklore, you must kill the changeling in their place to get your loved one back.
• Michael was charged with manslaughter (along with other charges) and sentenced to 15 years.
• Others were convicted of “wounding”, and some had their charges dropped.

Bibliography

“Bridget Cleary.” 2021. Wikipedia. November 21, 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridget_Cleary.

J. Pérez Cuervo, Maria. 2018. “The Bizarre Death of Bridget Cleary, the Irish ‘Fairy Wife.’” Mental Floss. April 17, 2018. http://mentalfloss.com/article/539793/bizarre-death-bridget-cleary-irish-fairy-wife.

Ruxton, Dean. 2016. “The Story of the Last ‘Witch’ Burned Alive in Ireland.” The Irish Times. November 24, 2016. https://www.irishtimes.com/news/offbeat/the-story-of-the-last-witch-burned-alive-in-ireland-1.2880691.