Dame Alice Kyteler
Dame Alice Kyteler was born in 1280 into a noble Kilkenny family. She was married four times, and each husband died. On the death of her last husband, Sir John le Poer, Alice's children accused her of using poison and sorcery to kill him. They brought their case before the Bishop of Ossory, Richard de Ledrede, in 1324 in the hope that their mother would be arrested and they would gain her fortune.
Bishop de Ledrede investigated these accusations by visiting Alice and speaking to her children. According to the Bishop, Alice and her followers rejected the Christian faith. He claimed that they dismembered animals at crossroads and offered the pieces to demons. He also accused them of making horrible witches' brews, which included the entrails of roosters, worms, dead men's fingernails, and naughty children, which they cooked in the skull of a thief.
Bishop de Ledrede investigated these accusations by visiting Alice and speaking to her children. According to the Bishop, Alice and her followers rejected the Christian faith. He claimed that they dismembered animals at crossroads and offered the pieces to demons. He also accused them of making horrible witches' brews, which included the entrails of roosters, worms, dead men's fingernails, and naughty children, which they cooked in the skull of a thief.
Burnt at the Stake
The bishop wrote to the Chancellor of Ireland, Roger Outlawe, to have Alice arrested. This backfired on the bishop, as the Chancellor was Alice's brother-in-law and would do nothing against her. Ledrede himself was then imprisoned by Sir Arnold le Poer, the seneschal of Kilkenny and another brother-in-law of Alice's.
Woman being Burnt at the Stake
This illustration depicts a woman convicted of heresy ready to be burnt at the stake in the fifteenth century. Although those accused of witchcraft were not tortured and executed on a large scale until the fifteenth century, Petronella de Meath suffered this fate in Ireland in 1324. Hers is the first recorded instance of such an event taking place in Ireland. The mass superstition of the witch hunts continued in Europe right up to the seventeenth century.
Woman being Burnt at the Stake
Woman being Burnt at the Stake
This illustration depicts a woman convicted of heresy ready to be burnt at the stake in the fifteenth century. Although those accused of witchcraft were not tortured and executed on a large scale until the fifteenth century, Petronella de Meath suffered this fate in Ireland in 1324. Hers is the first recorded instance of such an event taking place in Ireland. The mass superstition of the witch hunts continued in Europe right up to the seventeenth century.
After seventeen days in prison, the bishop was released and carried on with his mission to have Dame Alice tried for heresy.
Dame Alice eventually fled to England in 1325 and was never heard from again. Bishop de Ledrede continued to pursue her followers. He accused Alice's maidservant, Petronella de Meath, of heresy, and had her flogged and burned at the stake in 1324. This was one of the first cases of a person being charged with witchcraft in Europe, and Petronella was the first person in Ireland to be burned at the stake for heresy.