A Real Life Fairy Tale Murder

Posted by Sean on March 18th, 2009

evil-fairies

Most of us see fairies as the most harmless of folklore. The Cottingley Fairy hoax perpetrated by Elsie Wright in 1916 comes to mind. What’s the harm? Stories to do with fairies are most often adorable tales of dainty little creatures doing pleasant things. The real life Irish fairy tale of Bridget Cleary however is a few shades darker than your average Guinness.

In 1895 she was murdered by her husband in Ireland, his claim was that she had been abducted by evil fairies and a changeling had been left in her place. After refusing to give her medicine because he didn’t believe in it, a priest visited to give Bridget her last rights before her husband burned her to death.

I don’t know which is more disturbing: burning your wife to death because you believe her to be a fairy, or refusing to give her medicine because of your purported faith. Bridget’s husband Michael was sentenced to fifteen years in prison on manslaughter charges in a highly publicized and controversial court case.

The nefarious incident has remained popular in the Irish collective consciousness, inspiring poems, literature and off color jokes. The legend has even crossed the Atlantic to inspire the name of a Celtic Fiddle band from Pennsylvania.

  • kiki
    OMG o_o thts so disturbing
  • I don’t know which is more disturbing: burning your wife to death because you believe her to be a fairy, or refusing to give her medicine because of your purported faith.
  • hollyiles
    these fairies are not real i am disapointed
    ....................i hate you.
  • kyoko heart
    micheal man i beleive in u i know fairy where nothing like the ones in the disney stories, there dangerous man they glamor themseft as human kidnap are baby and look like gothics. they're the reason why we have raves so the can kidnap us.
  • joaquindz
    fairies huh? i believ in them after i had an experience with a gnome/elf/ leprechaun whatever u want to call them.. guess where? in mexico, in my dad's home town, with a population of 589, it is really creepy there at night.
  • Ebony
    Wow ppl really believe fairies to be evil?.....so much that a man would tourcher and kill his own wife?...harsh.
  • starshine
    ive beleived in fairies my whole life and some are sweet but others are evil it all depends in what you beleive in.i think that the more we beleive in them,they will start to apear.
  • Ive always look to fairies as these playful, innocent and pretty creatures...i would love to leave it as that.
  • sabee
    that is scary
  • why??
  • linlin
    I LOVE IT!!!.....ITS DIFFERENT!
  • cynthia
    they are real
  • esme rogers
    wow, i never knew fairies could harm you!
  • well now you do esme they do i sat where the cat sat and i wont tell you the rest and then a bad fairy came and i summoned it back and got a nice fairy :)
  • renaecerlcer
    i actual know a real fairy.
    she is mean and stupid.
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