Bridget Cleary: The Tipperary Witch Case

THIS IS A FACSIMILE of typewritten transcripts (with handwritten corrections) made in 1917 of newspaper articles published in 1895 concerning the death of Bridget Cleary, who was burned as a witch in Co. Tipperary, Ireland, and the subsequent murder trial of her husband and extended family members. It contains witness testimonies and descriptions of Irish folk culture, particularly as it relates to changelings - fairies that kidnap a human and then inhabit their body. One custom to rid a body of a changeling was to put it in fire, as it was believed that the changeling would jump up the chimney and return the human back into its body. This, and other practices, are described in the book, making it an historically, socially, and culturally important document.

The original book was part of the private library of Sir William Osler, a Canadian physician who was one of the founding Professors of John Hopkins Hospital and a Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford University. He was also a bibliophile, historian, and author.

There are a few blank pages at the end of the book where you might like to make your own notes regarding the case such as the people involved and how they are related to each other.

The typewritten transcripts contain some mistakes - most were corrected by hand, but some were not. The document is readable and can be fairly easily understood.