In 1763, the John’s Bridge in Kilkenny collapsed and killed many people. People started to whisper about it being the curse from Black Alice that started many centuries ago in Ireland’s first recorded witch trial.
Kilkenny, Ireland, is a city steeped in history and folklore, where tales of the supernatural are as much a part of the landscape as its ancient architecture. The Marble city has even been called the most haunted city in the world.
Read More: Check out all of the ghost stories from Ireland
The reason for its haunting is much blamed on the curse a supposed witch put on the city that convicted her for witchcraft and is the first recorded person that was condemned for this. This case set the precedent for how all following witchcraft and heresy cases would be executed. The act of burning witches in Ireland lasted until 1895 when the 28 year old Bridget Cleary was burnt as the last one. The legend of Black Alice and the eerie history of John’s Bridge and the ghost that are supposedly lingering.
Black Alice’s Mysterious Life
The year was 1280 when Dame Alice Kyteler was born into the Kyteler family, a clan of Flemish merchants who had made their home in Kilkenny. She was born in Kyteler’s House, which has since 1639 been used as an inn and is today a restaurant.
As she grew older, Alice’s life took intriguing turns. She first married William Outlawe, a wealthy merchant and moneylender, and later, Adam le Blund of Callan, another prosperous moneylender. After Adam’s death, Alice’s fortune continued to rise as she married her third husband, Richard de Valle, a wealthy landowner, and subsequently, Sir John le Poer.
Alice Kyteler soon earned the moniker “Kilkenny’s merry widow” due to her remarkable run of good fortune – a fortune that, mysteriously, seemed to coincide with the untimely deaths of her spouses.
The circumstances surrounding her fourth husband’s death were particularly disturbing, as he was found with his nails torn out, his body hair fallen off, and his will altered to benefit Alice and her son. Fearing foul play, the children of her former husbands accused her of witchcraft and that she had poisoned him, and perhaps the other husbands as well.
The Seven Accusations
Seven grave charges were brought against Alice and her servants, accusing them of denying Christ and the Church, having dealings with a demon named Artis Filius and Robin Artisson for sorceress powers, practicing pagan rituals involving animal sacrifice and theft of church keys, crafting love potions and poisons from grisly ingredients, and using these concoctions to manipulate her husbands into giving away their wealth and ultimately killing them.
Read More: Check out all of the stories about Witches at the MoonMausoleum.
In a shocking turn of events, Alice Kyteler managed to escape to England, vanishing without a trace and we don’t really know what happened to her after this. Her son, however, faced a trial for witchcraft but was ultimately sentenced to penance, which he failed to uphold. Instead, he ended up in prison until he fulfilled a unique penance: covering the roof of the local cathedral with lead, a task he succeeded in but which ultimately led to the roof’s collapse.
Petronilla’s Grim Fate
Petronilla de Meath, Alice’s maid, was not as fortunate as her mistress. She was a young woman in her 20s and was her mistress maidservant. When her mistress was charged, it was her that suffered the gruesome consequences.
She endured torture, whippings, and finally, a gruesome end at the stake on 3rd of November in 1324. The Bishop wrote this about her confessions:
‘On one of these occasions, by the crossroads outside the city, she had made an offering of three cocks to a certain demon whom she called Robert, son of Art (Robertum filium Artis), from the depths of the underworld. She had poured out the cocks’ blood, cut the animals into pieces and mixed the intestines with spiders and other black worms like scorpions, with a herb called milfoil as well as with other herbs and horrible worms. She had boiled this mixture in a pot with the brains and clothes of a boy who had died without baptism and with the head of a robber who had been decapitated … Petronilla said she had several times at Alice’s instigation and once in her presence, consulted demons and received answers. She had consented to a pact whereby she would be the medium between Alice and the said Robert, her friend. In public, she said that with her own eyes she had seen the aforesaid demon as three shapes (praedictus daemon tertius), in the form of three black men (aethiopum) each carrying an iron rod in the hand. This apparition happened by daylight (de die) before the said Dame Alice, and, while Petronilla herself was watching, the apparition had intercourse with Alice. After this disgraceful act, with her own hand she (Alice?) wiped clean the disgusting place with sheets (kanevacio) from her own bed.’
Legend has it that before her death, Petronilla vowed to exact revenge on the onlookers who had condemned her. Her vow would soon come to haunt the city. One can ask, who was really the one behind the legend of Black Alice? Is it the ghost and curse from Petronilla that continued to haunt the city, centuries after her death?
The Ghostly Legacy about John’s Bridge
Particularly in 1763, during a catastrophic flood that claimed sixteen lives when John’s Bridge collapsed. During the flood, the people gathered to see when the Green’s Bridge collapsed, not realizing that the bridge they were standing on would also meet the same fate until it was too late.
But what does this have to do with the specters found after the collapse of one of the city’s bridges with the trial of Black Alice? Ever since these disturbing events, tales of strange occurrences and ghostly apparitions have persisted in and around Kilkenny, and it is said that it is the wrath of Black Alice that caused the accident in the first place.
That day, 16 people died and reports of ghostly figures have multiplied, with witnesses describing spectral figures peering over the bridge or rising from the river below, especially in the eerie hours of the early morning.
The Remaining Whispers about Black Alice
As the eerie whispers of Black Alice continue to echo through the streets of Kilkenny, the city remains captivated by its rich supernatural history. The legend of Alice Kyteler and the tragic events surrounding John’s Bridge have left an indelible mark on the city’s consciousness, fueling both fascination and fear.
In the years that followed the collapse of John’s Bridge, the sightings of ghostly figures and strange occurrences persisted, casting an ethereal veil over the area. Locals and visitors alike would share tales of spectral figures peering over the bridge or rising from the depths of the river in the early hours of the morning. The apparitions served as a constant reminder of the long-standing curse that was said to haunt the bridge, a curse supposedly originating from the vengeful spirit of Petronella de Meath, Alice’s ill-fated maid. Or perhaps it was Black Alice herself?
As visitors walk across the bridge, feeling a chill in the air and catching fleeting glimpses of shadowy figures, they can’t help but wonder: are they merely witnessing tricks of the mind or is something more supernatural at play? Perhaps the echoes of the past, the whispers of those who have been wronged or lost, continue to resonate in the present, ensuring that the story of Black Alice and the haunted history of Kilkenny never fade away.
And so, the mystery remains, inviting new generations to delve into the depths of Kilkenny’s history, to unearth the untold secrets and unlock the truth behind the haunting tale of Black Alice and John’s Bridge.
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References:
Black Alice | Irish Ghost Stories from the Emerald Isle
John’s Bridge | Haunted Kilkenny, Ireland | Spirited Isle
Ghost Stories ~ Sacred Sites of Ireland Alice Kyteler – Wikipedia
