Michael Cleary

H. O’Connell and P. G. Doyle (2006) speculated that the murder may have been the result of Michael Cleary developing a brief psychotic disorder, which manifested as Capgras syndrome, due to the stress of managing Bridget's illness. This became a case of folie à plusieurs after he persuaded others that she had been replaced by a fairy. The possibility that others complicit in the murder suffered from learning disabilities that allowed them to become convinced of the delusion's veracity was also raised.

The podcast Lore devoted one of its episodes ("Black Stockings", broadcast 13 October 2017) to the story of Bridget Cleary's murder. The story was one of six podcast episodes chosen to be adapted to a TV series. Bridget Cleary was portrayed by Holland Roden, while her husband Michael was portrayed by Cathal Pendred.

The Burning of Bridget Cleary by Angela Bourke and The Cooper's Wife is Missing by Joan Hoff & Marian Yeates, both released independently of each other in 2000, are historical accounts of the case that attempt to contextualize the murder with the belief in fairies in Ireland during the period.

He wrote the Broadway stage scores and songs for revues including "Earl Carroll's Vanities" (1931), "Shoot the Works", "and "Third Little Show". He wrote special material for night clubs, Kate Parson's "Show Boat Revue", and songs for films. During World War II he re-entered the Army as a Captain, and retired as a Major.

Composer, songwriter ("Is There Anything Wrong in That?"), journalist and organist, educated at the US Military Academy. He wrote shows at West Point and was an organist in the Catholic Chapel. He left the Army in 1926 to become a newspaper reporter in Boston.

Charges against one co-defendants, William Ahearn, were dropped, and three others, John Dunne, Michael Kennedy, and William Kennedy, were convicted of "wounding". Patrick Kennedy was sentenced to 5 years of penal servitude, Michael Kennedy was sentenced to 6 months of hard labour, James Kennedy was sentenced to 18 months of hard labour, William Kennedy was sentenced to 18 months of hard labour, Mary Kennedy was released owing to her age and frailty, Patrick Boland was sentenced to 6 months of hard labour, John Dunne was sentenced to 3 years of penal servitude, and Michael Cleary was found guilty of manslaughter, and sentenced to 20 years of penal servitude; he spent 15 years in prison. He was released from Maryborough (now Portlaoise) prison on 28 April 1910 and moved to the English city of Liverpool, from which he emigrated to Canada in July of the same year. On 14 October 1910, a black bordered letter was sent from the office of the Secretary of State, Home Department, London, to the undersecretary, Dublin Castle stating that Michael Cleary had emigrated from Liverpool to Montreal on 30 June.

Bridget Cleary (née Boland; Irish: Bríd Uí Chléirigh; c. 1869 – 15 March 1895) was an Irish woman killed by her husband in 1895. Her death is notable for several peculiarities: the stated motive for the crime was her husband's belief that she had been abducted by fairies with a changeling left in her place; he claimed to have slain only the changeling. The gruesome nature of the case – she was either immolated while still alive or set on fire immediately following her death – prompted extensive press coverage. The trial was closely followed by newspapers in both Ireland and Britain. As one reviewer commented, nobody, with the possible exception of the presiding judge, thought it was an ordinary murder case.

Cleary was born Bridget Boland around 1869 in Ballyvadlea, County Tipperary, Ireland. She married Michael Cleary in August 1887. The couple met in Clonmel in August 1887, where he worked as a cooper and she served as a dressmaker's apprentice.