The History of Ireland

In 1895, Bridget Cleary — young, educated, and a little too stylish for County Tipperary's liking — fell ill with a fever. Within days, her husband and neighbours had convinced themselves she'd been taken by the fairies and a changeling left in her place. What followed was a week of forced "cures," a hot poker, and a fire. Drawing on Angela Bourke's The Burning of Bridget Cleary, this episode traces how a community's belief in the good people curdled into horror — and sets up the trial that would follow. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The old gods of Ireland never really died — they went under the hills, and people learned not to say their name. We follow the Tuatha Dé into folklore, where they become the fairies, the Sídhe, the Good People — and take the first step towards the changeling and the 1895 killing of Bridget Cleary.

The episode cover image is a hawthorn tree, famously associated with fairies in Ireland. (Wikimedia Commons/Robin Somes)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In today's episode we finish off the last section of The Fate of the Children of Lír and explore how really it was the Christian Brothers who cemented it in the Irish psyche.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we look at how the Children of Lír slowly gained popularity over the 19th century and see what happens when you turn someone's children into swans. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we look at The Fate of the Children of Lír and explore how Ireland's most famous myth is not a myth at all. In fact, it's a Christian parable in a shape of myth. A bit like a child who's been turned into a swan.

The artwork for this episode is THE CHILDREN OF LIR. THE ENCHANTMENT by Jim FitzPatrick.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.