Bridey Murphy

Bridey Murphy (December 20, 1798-1864) is a purported 19th-century Irishwoman whom U.S. housewife Virginia Tighe (April 27, 1923 – July 12, 1995) claimed to be in a past life.

He then attempted to take Virginia one step further, before birth (so-called "past life regression"), and was astonished to find he was listening to Bridey Murphy.

At the age of 17 (c. 1815), she married barrister Sean Brian McCarthy, who she claimed taught at Queen's University Belfast, to which she moved.

Tighe herself was born as Virginia Mae Reese in the Midwest in 1923, had never been to Ireland, and did not speak with even the slightest hint of an Irish accent.

The best-selling book created a sensation; people would throw Bridey Murphy-themed "come as you were" parties and dances, and jokes abounded, such as cartoons of parents greeting newborns with "welcome back!

[a] Stan Freberg recorded a satirical sketch in 1956 titled "The Quest For Bridey Hammerschlaugen", parodying the LP released of excerpts of the first hypnosis session.

[citation needed] Some researchers came to the conclusion that the best way to discover the truth was to check back not to Ireland, but rather to Tighe's own childhood and her relationship with her parents.

He also did not mention that an Irish immigrant named Bridie Murphy Corkell (1892–1957) lived across the street from Tighe's childhood home in Chicago, Illinois.

[17][18][19] Because of correlations with Tighe's past life and discrepancies with the Ireland of the Bridey Murphy story's time, writers such as Michael Shermer consider any paranormal interpretation of the case to be "thoroughly disproven".

Produced by Paramount, the film starred Teresa Wright (as Ruth Simmons), Louis Hayward, and Nancy Gates.

[21] The New York Times, in Bernstein's obituary, characterized the eventual feelings held by supporters of the story:[22] Although Bridey believers concede that the various investigations failed to prove that she had lived as she had been described, they also insist that the investigations failed to prove she had not.Virginia Tighe disliked being in the spotlight and was skeptical about reincarnation, although in later years she would add, "The older I get the more I want to believe.

In Thomas Pynchon’s V. (1963), a character is mentioned as reading The Search for Bridey Murphy, described as a book written by a Colorado businessman to tell people there was life after death.

Bridey Murphy, a band consisting of Bill, Paul, and Barry Cowsill, and Waddy Wachtel, released a single in 1974, "The Time Has Come.

In a December 9, 2024 appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, comedian Billy Crystal discussed the origin of his current TV series Before (2024), a past-life regression saga.