Witchcraft in Ireland - Paperback

by Patrick F. Byrne (Author)

Here is the full account of Dame Alice Kyteler of Kilkenny who was said to have poisoned three husbands and enchanted a fourth, before her nefarious doings came under the notice of Richard de Ledrede, the Bishop of Ossory, who set an Inquisition to have her charged with sorcery.

Florence Newton, a member of a colony of Puritans, was placed on trial in Youghal in 1661 for having bewitched a young girl; and in 1710/11, strange happenings were recorded in Island Magee, Co. Antrim. The activities of the 18th century Hell Fire Club, whose members set aside a place for Satan at their dinners, are described.

That witchcraft is not in the dim and distant past is shown in the account of the Clonmel burning of 1894, when a young wife, who was thought to be a 'changeling' was thrown into the fireplace and burned by her husband and other relations. In fact, in 1961, week-end trippers in Island Magee accidentally discovered articles used in the Black Mass hidden in a cave.