WITCHCRAFT IN IRELAND.

Timaru Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 1767, 30 May 1895, Page 4

WITCHCRAFT IN IRELAND.

. » An extraordinary affair for this period of the nineteenth century, was investigated by Clonmel Magistrates at the beginning of AprjJ,' when nine men, and a woman were charged with the! wilful murder of Mrs Bridget Cleary pn March 15th, at Ballyvadwea, near Clonmel. The husband, father, and four cousins of the deceased were among the prisoners, and the woman was also a cousin. Mrs deary's death was alleged to have beeai brought about : by inhuman treatment meted out to her by tlie accused, on the supposition entertained by the accused that she was a witch. Very considerable! feeling existed hi Glpnmel and the district against the accused, and they were übjected to a hostile demonstration on being brought to the court-house,,, vie people hissing and hooting vigorously. One of the accused, named Ganey, was known m the locality as a " fairy doctor," but deceased's husband and her father appeared to have, been tlie chief actors m the exorcising ceremony, A witness named Simpson stated that he went to the house of Boland, deceased's father, between 9 and 10 at at night,' and as he approached he heard shouts of " Take it, you old ,. or I'll kill you." or l< We'll, kill you.'; The shouts were coming from a front room m the house. When the door was opened he went in.-— They were obliged $o open the door, as I thought, to put out the fairies. My wife and two' other women went m. , I saw deceased's father m the kitchen, and a number of men holding Mrs Cleary m bed m the front room. She shouted and screamed a litjtle at tlie time. She screamed more afterwards than she did . then, .. ;1 She wore her night-dress. Oleary was standing by the , bed, holding a saucepan m both hands. He asked, deceased, " Are you Bridget Boland, wife of Michael Cleary, m the name of the' Father, Son, and Holy Ghost?" She replied, "Yes, I am." The .questions were repeated several times, but she only answered a few times. Cleary gave his wife some liquid m a spoon out of the saucepan. I heard that it was herbs that was m it. I heard Michael Cleary say j that he got some herbs from Ganey. He made several remarks about herbs. Cleary was forcing herbs into the mouth of the deceased. She resisted by keep- 1 ing lier mouth closed. There were . now thirteen. people m the room altogether. What did all these people come to the house for R Were they to " drive put the witch"?— Yes';" tp -hunt, away witches and fairies. The door was open for the purpose. When the questions were put to her on the bed and she did not answer, someone, I beliqve, John Dunne, said, " Mrike' a good . fire, arid we'll make her answer.'' Mrs Cleary was carried from the room by John Dunne, and the three Kennedys. They held her m front of the kitchen fire for a couple of seconds, and her husband and her fatherasked her some questioris'to the sameeffectasbefore; She did not appear to be sensible, but her eyes were wandering around. The men who were holding her laid her over the fire. Michael Cleary was holding the saucepan m his hands, and he was asking the questions. Her father for a short time was holding the body off the grate, preventing it from resting on it. The father left the body to rest on the grate to ask her questions. She was put sideways on the grate, and her hip rested on it. The body was bent and forced m on the giate. She gave evidence of being . m pain, but did not scream. She was held on the fire and over the fire about ten minute^. The persons m the room made lio signs of disapproval. I said to Mrs Mary Kennedy, " They will burn her." When she was on the fire her father asked her, " Are you the daughter of Patrick Boland, wife, of Michael Cleary? Answer m the name of God." She answered, " I am, dada." They were then satisfied that they had their own. What do you mean by that ? — That they had Mrs Cleary and not a witch. They believed before that they had a witch. About 20 minutes before she was taken off the bed she screamed terribly. That was when the medicine went down. They also shook, her then and slapped her hands. When they were shaking her they all said, " Away with you. Come home, Bridget Boland, m the name of God." The same men removed Mrs Cleary off the fire that had put her on it, when she had answered satisfactorily. He did not see Cleary lay his hands upon deceased, except to put the liquid to her mouth. She was able to identify them all when m bed again,and they were all delighted at it. They put her on the fire about half-past eleven. The question was to be answered before twelve, as if it was past twelve she would be taken away. At si^ o'clock Cleaiy went for the priest. They thought there were some evil spirits m the hqu3e, and they wanted to have mass said to banish them. Witness left at 6 o'clock, and saw deceased alive again next day. He saw Cleary about seven or eight o'clock on the Sunday evening, and he asked witness for the loan of a revolver. He said that those parties who had convinced him about his wife would not go with him to the " fort " at Kylenigrapagh Hill: The fort was supposed to be "a fairy inhabitancy" Cleary said he expected to meet her at the fort. He said she had told him she would be riding a grey horse and he said that they should cut the ropes that were tying her on the, saddle, and she would then stay with him if he was able to keep her. Witness did not lend him the revolver, but afterwards saw Cleary with a big tableknife m his pocket to go to the fort with. Deceased did not struggle when on the grate, but she said when they were puting her on, " Are you going to make a herring of me ? Give me a chance." Tlie Rev. C. F. Ryan deposed that the Clearyg were members of his congregation He was called m to administer the last rites of the church to Mrs Cleary as a dying woman, but he was totally unaware of what had happened, the previous night. He told .Cleary that medicine should be administered, and Cleary eaid, m reply, " People may have some remedy of their own that would do more good than doctor's medicine." Later on he heard and saw something suspicious m Cleary's demeanour, and he informed the police. When lie heard of the witchcraft proceedings witness was horror-stricken, and gave the police further information, Mr& Simpson gave corroborative evidence. She said the deceased was forced to drink a decoction from herbs, and was placed over the fire m the kitchen to compel her to answer a question m tlie name of God as to whether she was 'a! witch or Bridget Cleary. The people m the house cried, "Away she goes, away j she goes," as if they were driving some- j thing out of the house. They thought J it was a witch and not Mrs Cleary who was m bed. No one did anything to prevent what was done, and no one objected to it. Witness heard someone say that all questions should be answered before twelve o'clock. They appeared to mean that they could not drive away the witch after twelve o'clock. Pat Boland told witness that Mrs Cleary went away from them on the previous night at twelve o'clock. Cleary said he would go | to the fairy fort on Sunday night and get his wife. It was John Dunne, who ordered the woman to be put on the fire. A farmer named Smith stated that he was m the house early m the evening. The woman was m bed when he entered the room, and her husband was giving her holy water out of a bottle,. and asking her to take it m tlie name of God. She took it, and then got up, dii'sst-d, and came to the kitchen fire. After a while she began to talk about pishogues (fairies) and other things. Witness did not think she was m her right mind. She said there were no pishogues about her. Police officers gave evidence as to the finding of tlie body, buried m a shallow hole 1000 yards from the house ; the body was wrapped m a sheet, with a bag over the head. The lower parts of the trunk and abdomen were completely charred and burned, also the hips, and th^ back

below the waist. The flesh was burned off the hips, and some bones were plainly visible. Both hands were also Inirned, and the Ip.nger-bones.pharred. The face was not 'bullied*, and was quite recognisable. Deceased was a young woman of 25pr-26. „ „ „ v .„, „. , ; " Several of tlie prisoners made statements. The husband of deceased merely denied that lie put his wife on the fire, , and .blamed her relatives for slandering him to her, but tlie others blamed Cleary all through for the brutality, and the •assertions thatVhisl wife was a -witchOne of them stated that Cleary stuck to this even after his wife's "death, nnd urged others to go with him to the " , fairy inhabitanee " to recover his wife. ' The prisoners were committed for trial.