Michael Leahy | |
---|---|
Born | 1822 |
Died | 1826 (aged 3–4) County Kerry, Ireland |
Cause of death | Drowning |
Known for | Being drowned for supposedly being a changeling |
Michael Leahy was a child who died by drowning in 1826 in Kerry, Ireland. [1] Leahy was four years old at the time of his death. [1] He was believed by some in his community to have been a changeling and the drowning was the result of an attempt to cure him. [1]
Ann Roche was indicted for Leahy's murder and tried in Tralee. [1] Roche was described by the London Morning Post as being "an old woman of very advanced age". [1] She claimed to have supernatural abilities and healing skills. [2] She ordered two people to bathe the boy in the river Flesk every morning. [3] The two bathed him for three mornings. [3] On the third morning he was held under the water for longer than usual and died. [3]
A changeling was a child left by fairies after they had stolen a healthy human child. [4] The suspicion in Leahy's case resulted from his illness. [1] He could neither speak nor stand. [1] Under cross-examination a witness said that the drowning was not done with the intent of killing the child but to cure him – "to put the fairy out of it". [3]
The court, at the direction of the judge, found Roche not guilty of murder. [3] The judge said that the jury "would not be safe in convicting the prisoner of murder, however strong their suspicion might be". [3] Author Robert Curran says that the verdict is suggestive of the depth of belief in changelings in the community. [5] There were several similar cases in rural Ireland in the 19th century. [5] [4]
Hannah Kent's novel, The Good People , takes inspiration from this case. [2] Kent said that she could only find two primary source articles on the case after extensive research and many details about the case are unknown. [2]
Aos sí is the Irish name for a supernatural race in Celtic mythology – spelled sìth by the Scots, but pronounced the same – comparable to fairies or elves. They are said to descend from either fallen angels or the Tuatha Dé Danann, meaning the "People of Danu", depending on the Abrahamic or pagan tradition.
John Wilson Croker was an Anglo-Irish statesman and author.
A changeling, also historically referred to as an auf or oaf, is a human-like creature found in folklore throughout Europe. A changeling was believed to be a fairy that had been left in place of a human stolen by other fairies.
Merrow is a mermaid or merman in Irish folklore. The term is of Hiberno-English origin.
The Dullahan, also called Gan Ceann, is a type of mythological creature in Irish folklore. He is depicted as a headless rider, on a black horse, who carries his own head held high in his hand or under his arm.
Irish folklore refers to the folktales, balladry, music, dance, and so forth, ultimately, all of folk culture.
Thomas Keightley was an Irish writer known for his works on mythology and folklore, particularly Fairy Mythology (1828), later reprinted as The World Guide to Gnomes, Fairies, Elves, and Other Little People.
Thomas Crofton Croker was an Irish antiquary, best known for his Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland (1825–1828), and who also showed considerable interest in Irish song and music.
A gancanagh is a male fairy from the mythology of Northern Ireland, known for seducing women.
The clurichaun or clúrachán is a mischievous fairy in Irish folklore known for his great love of drinking and a tendency to haunt breweries, pubs and wine cellars. He is related to the leprechaun and has sometimes been conflated with him as a shoemaker and a guardian of hidden treasure. This has led some folklorists to suppose that the clurichaun is merely a leprechaun on a drinking spree, while others regard them as regional variations of the same being. Like the leprechaun, the clurichaun is a solitary fairy, encountered alone rather than in groups, as distinct from the trooping fairies.
Bridget Cleary was an Irish woman who was murdered by her husband in 1895. She was either immolated or her body was set on fire immediately after her death. The husband's stated motive was his belief that she had been abducted by fairies and replaced with a changeling, which he then killed. The gruesome nature of the case prompted extensive press coverage, and the trial was closely followed by newspapers across Ireland.
Events from the year 1806 in Ireland.
Reverend Charles Bunworth was an Irish harpist and the Church of Ireland rector of Buttevant, County Cork. Born in 1704, he graduated from Trinity College, Dublin with an M.A. in Divinity Studies in 1730 and was ordained the following year. He was a renowned patron of the arts and a skilled harpist. He died in 1772 at the age of 68 and is buried in the churchyard of St John’s, Buttevant.
Hannah Kent is an Australian writer, known for two novels – Burial Rites (2013) and The Good People (2016). Her third novel, Devotion, was published in 2021.
Marianne Croker (1791–1854) was an English watercolour painter and author of the 19th century.
"The Soul Cages" is a fairy tale invented by Thomas Keightley, originally presented as a genuine Irish folktale in T. Crofton Croker's Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland (1825–28). It features a male merrow (merman) inviting a local fisherman to his undersea home. The "soul cages" in the title refer to a collection of human souls that the merman kept in his home.
The Good People is a 2016 historical novel by Australian author Hannah Kent. The novel takes inspiration from the case of the 1826 death of Michael Leahy in Kerry, Ireland.
The Hidden People is a historical fantasy and horror novel by English writer Alison Littlewood, first published in the United Kingdom in October 2016 by Jo Fletcher Books. It is based on the 1895 incident in Tipperary, Ireland where Bridget Cleary was burnt alive by her husband who believed she was a fairy changeling.
"The Legend of Knockgrafton" is an Irish folk tale/fairy tale published by T. Crofton Croker in Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland (1825).