Episode 26
Fairy Forts and Frightening Myths: Unpacking the Changeling Lore
We’re diving headfirst into the eerie world of changelings, that spine-chilling belief that the Fair Folk could swap your healthy baby with a sickly fairy imposter. Yep, you heard that right! In rural Ireland, where the shadow of ancient beliefs still looms large, the fear of these mischievous beings was no joke. We’ll chat about how this fear came to be, the bizarre ways families tried to protect their children, and how these tales had some seriously tragic consequences in a time when mental health wasn’t exactly understood. Plus, we’ll throw in a wild story about Bridget Cleary, a woman caught in the crosshairs of folklore and reality, proving that sometimes, the past is way more chilling than any ghost story. So grab your iron tongs and let’s get to it!
Takeaways:
- The changeling myth reflects deep human fears about losing loved ones and identity.
- In rural Ireland, the belief in changelings led to tragic misunderstandings about illness and difference.
- Folklore often served as a means of explaining unexplained phenomena in a world full of fear.
- The story of Bridget Cleary illustrates the dark consequences of believing in changelings in modern times.
Transcript
Welcome to bite sized folklore, where ancient beliefs meet the strange truths we carry with us. I'm Jodie, and today we're crossing the hedge into the land of the fear folk. We're talking about a terrifying, tragic and deeply human belief.
The changeling, and why the fear of them took such a deep hold in Ireland. In rural Ireland before modern medicine and psychology, the world was full of unseen forces. They were blessings from the land, but also dangers.
And among the most feared were the Aos Sith, the people of the mounds, the Sith. These weren't the delicate fairy of children's books. The Irish Sith were powerful, otherworldly and unpredictable.
You might count their favor or stumble into their wrath. And one way they showed that wrath was by stealing your child. The belief was this.
The Fair folk would take a healthy, beautiful human baby and leave behind one of their own. A changeling. A child that looked like yours, but felt wrong.
Sometimes it was a sickly fairy child, spirit swapped so the Fair folk could raise a strong human in their world. Other times, it was something else entirely. A glamoured log or a shriveled old fairy enchanted to look like a baby.
And sometimes it was said the baby's body remained, but the soul had been stolen. So what made a child suspicious? You'd hear things like, she stopped looking me in the eye.
He cried from dusk to dawn, like something was wrong in his blood. She spoke a word, a word that no baby could know. He laughed, but it wasn't right.
In Irish tradition, changelings were often described as sickly, fretful and strangely intelligent. Some ate voraciously and never gained any weight. Others would mutter to themselves or suddenly speak with eerie clarity.
And sometimes, when no one was looking, they'd sit up in their crib and smile. To protect your child, you didn't just rely on prayers. You turned to folklore. You kept iron tongs near the cradle.
You laid the baby on a cold stone or passed them through the legs of a mare. You never let strangers bless your child without permission.
And you never, ever left the baby unattended, especially not near a fairy fort, ring of mushrooms or a lone hawthorn tree, because those were their places. And once they'd taken your child, getting them back was dangerous work. Some changeling stories are pure myth, but some aren't.
And that's where the tragedy lies. In Ireland before the 20th century, mental or developmental conditions weren't understood. They were feared.
If a child is born with a disability or developed signs of what we now call autism, epilepsy or schizophrenia, the changeling myth offered an explanation, but it also led to cruel acts.
Very sadly, children were burned, abandoned, left in the cold, or even worse than that, because parents truly believed that they were trying to rescue their real child from the fairies. And this didn't just happen in the very distant past. Let me tell you the story of Bridget Cleary.
In:She kept hens and was said to be very clever with herbs. She also lived near a fairy fort.
When she became ill, feverish and disorientated, her family and husband became convinced she wasn't really Bridget anymore. They believed that the real Bridget had been taken and this woman was a changeling. They called in a priest, then a local fairy doctor.
Over nine days, they forced food and herbs down her throat, poured urine on her, demanded she declare herself. They interrogated her. Are you Bridget Cleary or are you the fairy woman?
And when she didn't answer the way they wanted, her husband, Michael Cleary burned her to death. He said afterward, she's not my wife. She's away with the fairies. And I burned that thing to bring her back.
It was:Because even the court recognized that they truly believed that they were fighting a changeling. To this day, the phrase sticks in the Irish imagination. Are you a witch? Or are you the fairy woman? So what can we take from all this?
The changeling is a symbol of deep human fear. That someone you love can change, that a child can become a stranger. That the world has taken something from you and you'll never get it back.
But it also tells us about misunderstanding, about how the unknown, illness, difference and even grief was once met with stories when it should have been met with care. Still, the changeling lingers in stories, stories and ballads, and the way we talk about the people who are not quite themselves.
And maybe, just maybe, when the wind turns cold and the shadow crosses the cradle, you'll feel the old fear rise too. Thank you for listening to bite sized folklore.
If you enjoyed this episode, feel free to leave a review, share it with a friend, and maybe light a candle for the old stories. I'm Jodie, and until next time, stay curious, stay safe, and always respect the old ways.
