The Burning of Bridget Cleary
Book • 1999
The Burning of Bridget Cleary by Angela Bourke (and related accounts) investigates the 1895 murder of Bridget Cleary in Ireland, who was killed after being accused of being a changeling, revealing complex intersections of folk belief, gender, and social change.
The case exemplifies tensions between modern legal structures and lingering popular beliefs, and historians use it to explore community dynamics, masculinity and the impact of modernization on rural life.
Bourke's research situates the event within cultural, economic and familial contexts, showing how rumor and belief could have lethal consequences.
The work is emblematic of microhistorical inquiry, using a single event to illuminate broader cultural patterns.
It has informed studies on folklore, gender violence, and the cultural history of Ireland.
The case exemplifies tensions between modern legal structures and lingering popular beliefs, and historians use it to explore community dynamics, masculinity and the impact of modernization on rural life.
Bourke's research situates the event within cultural, economic and familial contexts, showing how rumor and belief could have lethal consequences.
The work is emblematic of microhistorical inquiry, using a single event to illuminate broader cultural patterns.
It has informed studies on folklore, gender violence, and the cultural history of Ireland.
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Marina Warner
Christopher Clark & Marina Warner: A Scandal in Königsberg
