Book Review: The Burning of Bridget Cleary

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

The Burning of Bridget Cleary    
Angela Bourke
Class/Genre:   Non-Fiction   Mystery   True Crime   Political Intrigue   Historical
Viking, Aug 2000, $24.95, 279 pp.

In early March 1895 in Tipperary, Ireland, twenty-six-year old Bridget Cleary catches a nasty cold and is bed ridden from her illness. Not to long after becoming ill, Bridget disappears without a trace. Most of the townsfolk in this isolated, rural village believe that the fairies claimed Bridget as one of their own. The few that did not believe that felt that something possessed Bridget’s body and that the real Bridget would soon reappear.

Amidst all this superstition, the real Bridget lies in a grave, having been burned to death by her husband, Michael and nine of his friends and neighbors. All ten of them strongly felt a demon had taken control of Bridget’s body. Michael is arrested for killing his wife and ultimately sentenced to twenty years in prison.

THE BURNING OF BRIDGET CLEARY is an excellent taut recounting of a real event that shook Europe towards the end of the nineteenth century. Spin doctors in England and Ireland used the brutal murder and the superstitious beliefs of the co-conspirators to political advantage in the debate over a free Ireland. Showing a deft touch for historiography, author Angela Bourke provides a nineteenth century look into why a village killed one of their own and how that seemingly remote case impacted twentieth century events in Ireland and England. This non-fictional book is worth reading by fans of historical novels as well as those readers who enjoy a real chronicled event.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner