Contributions

  • Yeates, Marian. - Contributor

Publication

2000 - Basic Books, New York, New York (State)

Language

English

Word Count

114,500 words, Guess

Page Count

458 pages

Identifiers

and 2 more
  • Goodreads1659273
  • LibraryThing144194

Classifications

  • DDC364.15/23/094192
  • LCCHV6535.I742 T565 2000

Alternate Titles

  • Trials of Bridget Cleary

Description

In 1895 twenty-six-year-old Bridget Cleary disappeared from her cottage in rural County Tipperary and remained missing for several days. At last her body was discovered, bent, broken, and badly burned in a shallow grave. Within a few days, her unimaginable story came to light: for almost a week before her death she had been confined, starved, threatened, physically and verbally abused, exorcised, and finally burned to death by her husband, father, aunt, cousins, and neighbors, who had collectively confused a simple flu with possession by the fairies. In The Cooper's Wife Is Missing, Joan Hoff and Marian Yeates try to make sense of this outlandish, unfathomable, medieval "trial" and murder. Drawing on firsthand accounts, contemporary newspaper reports, police records, trial testimony, and a rich wealth of folklore, they weave a mesmerizing fireside tale of magic, madness, and mystery. This is narrative history at its evocative best.

Description

"On March 15, 1895, twenty-eight year old Bridget Cleary, a cooper's wife, disappeared from her cottage in rural County Tipperary. Swirling amid rumors was the barely whispered, but widely held, belief that Bridget had gone with no mortal man; rather, she had gone off with the fairies.". "The mystery deepened when seven days later her body was discovered, bent, broken and badly burned in a shallow grave. Within a few days, the unimaginable truth came to light: for almost a week before her death Bridget had been confined, ritually starved, threatened, physically and verbally abused, exorcised, and, finally, burned to death by her husband, Michael Cleary, her father, and extended family who confused bronchitis with a "fairy dart."". "In The Cooper's Wife Is Missing, Joan Hoff and Marian Yeates make sense of this ancient, rarely publicized, ritual exorcism and explain how the incident went on to become a national and international incident."--BOOK JACKET.

Subjects

Topics

MurderChangelingsCase studiesSocial conditionsCleary, Bridget, ca. 1869-1895Murder -- Ireland -- Tipperary (County) -- Case studiesChangelings -- Ireland -- Tipperary (County) -- Case studies

People

Bridget Cleary (ca. 1869-1895)

Times

Genres

  • Case studies.

Other Editions

  • The cooper's wife is missing: the trials of Bridget ClearyBasic Books2000-01-01

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