Podcast: After The Burning Of Bridget Cleary by Angela Bourke

When Bridget Cleary was burned to death in Ballyvadlea, near Cloneen, in 1895, some of her relatives and neighbours said she had gone away with the fairies. Did they expect to be believed, or what did they mean? Angela Bourke, author of The Burning of Bridget Cleary: a True Story (1999), winner of the Irish Times Prize for Non-Fiction, discusses folklore relating to women and its impact on the modern imagination.
Angela Bourke MRIA is emeritus professor at the UCD School of Irish, Celtic Studies, Irish Folklore and Linguistics, Dublin. She was joint editor of the two-volume Field Day Anthology, vols iv & v, Irish Women’s Writing and Traditions, and has published books, articles and reviews in Irish and English, including the biography Maeve Brennan: Homesick at The New Yorker (2004).