In Search of Biddy Early

In Search of Biddy Early records the stories surrounding Biddy Early, the County Clare herbalist, healer and seer whose reputation became part of Irish folklore. Lenihan follows accounts of her cures, prophetic abilities and the celebrated bottle associated with her supposed insight into hidden knowledge and future events.

Rather than presenting a settled biography, the book gathers oral traditions preserved through local memory, including tales passed down by people whose families remembered Biddy Early. Different versions sometimes disagree, particularly over how she acquired the bottle and the source of her abilities. The result is a portrait shaped by storytelling: part folk history, part legend, and attentive to the enduring argument over whether Biddy was a gifted healer, a wise woman or something more mysterious.