The Burning Of Bridget Cleary

Oct 26, 2024 12:31 PM

Author:Angela Bourke

In 1895 twenty-six-year-old Bridget Cleary disappeared from her house in rural Tipperary. At first, some said that the fairies had taken her into their stronghold in a nearby hill, from where she would emerge, riding a white horse. But then her badly burned body was found in a shallow grave. Her husband, father, aunt and four cousins were arrested and charged, while newspapers in nearby Clonmel, and then in Dublin, Cork, London and further afield attempted to make sense of what had happened.

In this lurid and fascinating episode, set in the last decade of the nineteenth century, we witness the collision of town and country, of storytelling and science, of old and new. The torture and burning of Bridget Cleary caused a sensation in 1895 which continues to reverberate more than a hundred years later.

Winner of the Irish Times Prize for Non-Fiction

Reviews

Fascinating... passionate and thought-provoking... a creative, stimulating book that deserves to win many readers

—— Patrick French , Sunday Times

One of those rare books that becomes an instantaneous classic

—— Independent

Scrupulous, clear micro-history at its best

—— Marina Warner, Books of the Year , Times Literary Supplement

Angela Bourke's fascinating, disturbing and powerful book tells a compelling and tragic story

—— Financial Times

The story of Bridget Cleary's death is a parable for a changing world, a well-researched and horrifying account of what could happen in the region where myth and modernity collide...As dramatic a murder mystery as any devotee of the genre could long for...And it is the rich abundance of ideas that makes this a uniquely important historical work

—— Irish News

Exemplary in its restraint, scrupulousness and empathy, it is also beautifully written

—— Roy Foster, Books of the Year , Times Literary Supplement

'A sad but spellbinding story, told with artistic tact and a humane concern for all caught up in the terrible event. The Burning of Bridget Cleary draws on oral tradition, reportage, popular culture and high literature to show how the past may persist in the present

—— Declan Kiberd

The story of the killing of Bridget Cleary is so brilliantly researched and narrated that it becomes a parable of the cultural and political relationship between Ireland and Britain at the end of the last century... A classic account

—— Seamus Deane

'The subhead - "a true tale of love, murder and survival in the Amazon" - sets the mood for this adventure and Whitaker delivers in spades. The publishers could have added "intrigue, heartache and girl power in 18th century Peru" and still undersold the story...there has to be a movie in it!'

—— WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN

'Riveting...This is really two books in one, suited for fans of Dava Sobel's bestseller Longitude who also appreciate a dash of romance and suspense in their historical scientific fare'

—— ATLANTA JOURNAL

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