Skip to content
Link to page
Claire Micks Mother
I want her to describe going away with the fairies like a pagan describing things that are actual mental health.
Keep this in mind when she is describing going away with them. She actually describes a trauma response to Mick Running away, or perhaps her own mothers death.
REF: The book in “cold blood analyses” Perry Smith. Perry as having a personality “very near to that of a paranoid schizophrenic,” marked by poorly controlled rage, a disregard for reality, and severe lapses in impulse control.
Bridget and the community
Maybe shes viewed with some jealousy, like shes getting notions above her station.
She had a singer sewing machine.
She begins to smoke a pipe in an act ii...leave this to Micks mother. Or maybe both of them?
Bridget believes some fairy influence herself. Maybe it reflects her district of people. She is terrified of being taken.
Show her as a disappointed idealist, shunned by a jealous/petti society
You need to set up why sewing is so important to bridget. Maybe people laugh at her mother for wearing rags. Sewing is an act of
Michael Cleary 35
could read and write
show something that’s makes Michael surprising.
Whats michaels power over these people.
Mainly fear but also admiration?
Fairies - (I want to show) his father was violent and his mother mad...his father feeds him his own pet rabbit?
He craves respectability and stability because of his childhood. His mother is a source of shame.
His parents are dirt poor. Dads a dunk and mum is a petty criminal.
Thomas Cleary
This was Micks dads name, Its on the marriage cert
Bridget and Michael.
Love is envy, what do they see in each other?
I want to emphasise that Bridget and Michael were both outsiders and considered each other soulmates.
Michael sees something in Bridget that others don’t, maybe he appreciates her dress making, that she makes her clothes personal.
But Michael has another side that Bridget can't access..maybe they refer to this directly..ie Michaels mood changes...as “The stranger”
Bridget starts smoking a pipe. Michaels mother smoked a pipe.
I need to establish they are soul mates, both feel like outsider. Although Michael gets in moods where Michelle can't reach him, they call this “the stranger:” Michael is essentially insecure and has a chip on his shoulder.
For bridget, making and repairing clothes is an act of love.
Johanna Burke + Minnie...merge
Merge with Minnie just for the love rivalry+Jealousy
Cousin, Marys Kid.
Johanna Burke was delivering milk to the Cleary household.
Pat Boland
He’s in a loveless marriage but he doesn’t seem to notice.
He would have been about 40 when Bridget was born
Brida Boland Bridget ‘Brida’ Keating Boland
Bridgets mother. Also called Bridget
She hasn't loved her husband for a long time and lives out her dreams through Bridget. Telling her to live her life and gives her blessing for marriage without her father knowing.
Says Michael is “Headstrong”..”I think your Father is half scared of him”
Mary (Boland) Kennedy (pats sister)
Bridgets Aunt
I want to present her as being nurturing and playing a mother Role to everyone, including Michael. She represents “passivity”....or the “Road to hell”
Denis Ganey 58
Local Herb Doctor...didnt visit but gave the “cure”. Perhaps I simply merge him with Jack? Although I quite like the idea of a scene where Michael goes to visit him.
He would not have accepted money for the service as it might lesson its power.
Johana “Han” Burke 34
Cousin. Marys Daughter. She initially lied and said she saw Bridget leave the house and go missing
She’s represent Jealousy of other women/community
DENIS GANEY
John ‘Jack’ Dunne 60
He claimed to hear the fairies hurling near his house. Theres a fort near his house.
He did speak Irish.
Fathers Cousin
walked with a limp
IAN: As a seanchai, knowledgeable about fairy tradition, charms, spells and incantations, he was used to commanding respect. Maybe its Jack who accuse Bridget of having ‘notions’
Have him imply to Michael that he is unable control his wife.
I think he is vain and conceited.
Jack is the only one Michael listens to.
Her fathers cousin.
Pat Boland Father 67
Portray him as weak minded...subservient to Michael?
I need a scene where the father gets convinced by Jack/Michael. Perhaps they point out the strange noise Bridget is making?..something more persuasive?..
- fathers denial after her death
Fr Cornelius Ryan 37
William Simpson.
He was an ‘emergency man’. ie living on land of someone evicted.
Protestant. Wife called Mary “minnie”. Owns a revolver
2 daughters Margaret and Mary. (5 and 3)
lived beside clearys.
Living on a farm where the earlier tenants were evicted
Potential lover?
Simpson, smart and dapper, was an "emergency-man" or property defence protector for big landowner.
Doctor Crean
what if the doctor shared some of the fairy believes, this would be an interesting turning point and increase the sense that Bridget can't trust anyone.
Or the doctor could be modernity vs superstition
He was a drunk.
Will Ahearne aged 16
Tom Smyth & David Hogan David Hogan , Tom Anglin
Mentioned that they visit on “p98 & p110 Tipperary Witch case Book “
'If I had Tom Smyth and David Hogan, they'd settle what's between me and Mick.' - Bridget. They seem to have visited but done nothing. Not sure if they witness the burning.
They have a Dog called Badger and a cat called Dopey
MALE COUSINS
James Kennedy 22
Cousin
William Kennedy 21
Pat Kennedy 32
Cousin (I think)
Imply the cousin actually fancies Bridget. Perhaps bridget just says this.
Maybe just have one cousin. Use William, so we only have 1 person called pat?
The judge described him as “as the most guilty of all except Cleary “ p132 Tipperary Witch case Book
Seems to be the most culpable of the cousins. He got the longest sentence. I think he helped dispose of the body. Although I may use another cousins name, so that I have only 1 Pat.
Mick Kennedy
Least guilty of the brothers. 27
Patrick Kennedy
AI SUMMARY OF MALE COUSINS
1. Patrick Kennedy
• Role in the Murder: Patrick Kennedy played a significant role in restraining Bridget during the violent rituals leading to her death. He also assisted Michael Cleary in burying her body after the murder.
• Relationship to Bridget: Patrick was one of Bridget’s first cousins.
• Sentence: He received five years of penal servitude. ()
• Reasoning Behind Sentence: Patrick’s active participation in both the violent acts and the cover-up made him one of the most culpable individuals after Michael Cleary.
2. James Kennedy
• Role in the Murder: James Kennedy helped restrain Bridget during the so-called “exorcism” rituals that escalated into her murder.
• Relationship to Bridget: James was another of Bridget’s first cousins.
• Sentence: He was sentenced to 18 months of hard labor.
• Reasoning Behind Sentence: His role was deemed less central than Patrick’s but still significant enough to warrant a substantial sentence.
3. William Kennedy
• Role in the Murder: William Kennedy participated in restraining Bridget during the rituals and was present during much of the violence.
• Relationship to Bridget: William was also one of Bridget’s first cousins.
• Sentence: Like James, he received 18 months of hard labor.
• Reasoning Behind Sentence: His involvement mirrored that of James Kennedy, leading to an equal sentence.
4. Michael Kennedy
• Role in the Murder: Michael Kennedy held a saucepan containing liquid used during the rituals and was present throughout much of the violence.
• Relationship to Bridget: Michael was another first cousin of Bridget.
• Sentence: He received six months of hard labor.
• Reasoning Behind Sentence: Michael’s role was less direct compared to his brothers but still contributed to the events leading up to Bridget’s death.
Bridget Boland Cleary
Born 19 Feb 1869 (although there is some debate)
When portraying real people, we must not only explain how we portray them but on what basis?
Although the historical resources are rich with testimonies, we are missing the most crucial testimony: Bridget's.
So what do we know? Bridget was 26, a dressmaker's apprentice and making extra money by selling eggs. She made her own clothes and took pride in her appearance. She was creative and had a degree of independence, unusual for a woman in her time and of her background.
She was then, single minded, self motivated and industrious by the standards of her time.
The only surviving picture we have of Bridget, is somewhat overexposed. Her features are difficult to make out. She stands in a formal pose, in a beautiful and ornate dress, which she may have made.
We must also speculate how such a woman as Bridget was viewed by the community. Some of those around her were perhaps, jealous of Bridget and one can’t help thinking this may have contributed to their inaction to help.
People did sometimes wonder why she had married Michael. Bridget's view of him was realistic, she knew he was violent, he had been violent in the past. She had confided this to her Aunt. In fact the couple had lived apart for sometime, which was highly unusual. This was not a woman making excuses for an abusive husband and she was not scared to take action.
While reading court testimony, what strikes me time and again is how fearless Bridget was. Even when she was in danger she spoke plainly and directly. Bridget stood out. Sadly, as any Irish person knows, the tall poppy can get trampled.
NON TREAMNET NOTES
Is Bridget always looking after people, never living for herself. And dress making represents something for herself?
Michael Cleary
Michaels arc, is not one of learning but of descent.
He was the husband of Bridget Cleary and a cooper by trade.
He was, by all accounts a sullen man. We also see a man so stubborn and bitter that he would not attend his own fathers funeral. Much too stubborn for self reflection or learning.
When researching the story, I asked the inevitable question, why did no-one help? And what became evident is fear. Michael was an intimidating man, and what made him intimidating was his volatility and what made him volatile, was off course, insecurity.
What is psychologically interesting is how Michael buried his jealousy and resentment, using his superstitions to vent on his wife. I attempt to explore the roots of his insecurity, reflected in Bridget's independence and use this as a source of friction. Michael doesn’t address this head on, in fact he addresses nothing head on. There is a temptation to use Michael as a metaphor for Ireland but I avoid being so direct, instead letting themes emerge naturally.
Michael’s relationship with his mother is most telling, she is thought to have “gone with the fairies” perhaps revealing his sensitivity around these believes.
During my initial research, I came to understand, Michael did indeed believe his wife was a changeling. If he had planned, simply to murder his wife, he would not have locked members of her family in the house to witness it. Of course one can’t help question his sanity. If we acknowledge that he did believe, then his actions could be deemed sane in legal terms, but perhaps these are not the actions of a sane man, in the common sense of the word. I don’t believe there is a clear line between sanity and insanity. I say none of this to justify his crimes, nothing could do that. However in writing him, I must understand him.
There are such rich records in this case (I often take dialogue straight from testimony) that I can leave judgments of sanity to the viewer.
To make him a cardboard cut out would do no justice to the story or indeed Bridget. She saw enough humanity in him to marry him. And so we see a man who shovels everything into a furnace, until he explodes.
Want to print your doc?
This is not the way.
This is not the way.
Try clicking the ⋯ next to your doc name or using a keyboard shortcut (
CtrlP
) instead.