“Are you a witch? Are you a Fairy?
Or are you the wife of Michael Cleary?”
These are the haunting lines of an Irish children’s dancing rhyme still remembered in modern Ireland today.
It tells of a brutal murder, madness a strong belief in the Fair Folk. In Tipperary, Michael Cleary accused his wife, Bridget, of being a fairy changeling and his “real wife” stolen by the Fair Folk. The events in 1885 in Tipperary resemble the witchcraze that spread in Europe and Americas. The fairy changeling folklore drove Michael Cleary and several others to attempt fairy lore trials to force the fairy to reveal itself and see the real Bridget returned.
You can read the dark, tragic and fascinating account of Bridget Cleary here
Leanbh Pearson 