In 1763 John's Bridge in Kilkenny collapsed, killing many people. People began to whisper that this was the Black Alice curse, which began many centuries ago during the first recorded witchcraft trial in Ireland.
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 historic architecture. The Marble City has even been called the most haunted city in the world.
The reason for the haunting is largely due to the curse that the alleged witch placed on the city, which convicted her of witchcraft and is the first recorded person to be convicted of it. This case set a precedent for the execution of all subsequent witchcraft and heresy cases. The act of burning witches in Ireland continued until 1895, when the last person to be burned was 28-year-old Bridget Cleary. The legend of Black Alice and the incredible story of John's Bridge and the ghost it supposedly lingers on.
The Secret Life of Black Alice
The year was 1280 when Lady Alice Kyteler was born into the Kyteler family, a clan of Flemish merchants who settled in Kilkenny. She was born in Kyteler's house, which had been an inn since 1639 and today a restaurant.
As she grew up, Alice's life took intriguing turns. She married first to William Outlawe, a wealthy merchant and moneylender, and later to Adam le Blund of Callan, another wealthy moneylender. After Adam's death, Alice's fortune continued to grow as she married her third husband, the wealthy landowner Richard de Valle, and then Sir John le Poer.
Alice Kyteler quickly gained the nickname “The Merry Widow of Kilkenny” thanks to an extraordinary streak of good fortune – a fortune that mysteriously coincided with the untimely death of her spouses.
The circumstances of her fourth husband's death were particularly disturbing, as he was found with his fingernails torn off, his body hair falling out, and his will changed in favor of Alice and her son. Fearing unclean games, her ex-husband's children accused her of witchcraft and of poisoning him and perhaps her other husbands.
Seven charges
Seven grave charges were brought against Alice and her servants, accusing them of denying Christ and the Church, contacting a demon named Artis Filius and Robin Artisson to obtain sorceress powers, practicing pagan rituals including animal sacrifice and stealing church keys, and making love potions and poisons with gruesome ingredients, and using these concoctions to manipulate husbands into giving up their wealth and ultimately killing them.
In a shocking turn of events, Alicja Kyteler managed to escape to England, disappearing without a trace and we don't really know what happened to her afterwards. Her son, however, was put on trial for witchcraft, but was ultimately sentenced to penance, which he did not keep. Instead, he was imprisoned until he completed a unique penance: covering the roof of a local cathedral with lead, which he succeeded in doing, but ultimately resulted in the roof collapsing.
Petronilla's grim fate
Petronilla de Meath, Alice's maid, was not as lucky as her mistress. It was a youthful woman of twenty years ancient who was her maid. When her lover was accused, she suffered gruesome consequences.
She survived torture, floggings, and finally a gruesome end at the stake on November 3, 1324. The bishop wrote this about her confessions:
“On one such occasion, at a crossroads outside the city, she offered three roosters to a certain demon, whom she called Robert, son of Art (Robertum filium Artis), from the depths of the underworld. She poured out the blood of roosters, cut the animals into pieces, and mixed the intestines with spiders and other black worms such as scorpions, with an herb called yarrow, as well as other herbs and horrible worms. She boiled this mixture in a pot with the brain and clothes of a boy who died without baptism, and with the severed head of a robber… Petronilla said that several times, at Alice's instigation and once in her presence, she consulted demons and received answers. She agreed to a pact under which she would be an intermediary between Alice and the aforementioned Robert, her friend. She publicly reported that she had seen the said demon with her own eyes in the form of three figures (praedictus daemon tertius), in the form of three black men (aethiopum), each carrying an iron rod in his hand. This apparition took place at daylight (de die) in front of the said Lady Alice, and while Petronilla herself watched, the apparition had intercourse with Alice. After this shameful act, she (Alice?) wiped this disgusting place off her bed with her own hands (kanevacio).
Legend has it that before her death, Petronilla swore revenge on the onlookers who condemned her. Her vow will soon begin to haunt the city. You might ask who was really behind the legend of Black Alice? Is it Petronilla's ghost and curse that continues to haunt the city hundreds of years after her death?
The spooky legacy of John's Bridge
Especially in 1763, during a disastrous flood that claimed the lives of sixteen people when John's Bridge collapsed. During the flood, people gathered to watch as Green's Bridge collapsed, not realizing that the bridge they were standing on would also suffer the same fate until it was too behind schedule.
But what does this have to do with the specters found after the collapse of one of the city's bridges in connection with the Black Alice trial? Since these disturbing events, stories of strange occurrences and apparitions have been circulating in Kilkenny and the surrounding area. It is said that Black Alice's anger caused the accident.
16 people died that day and reports of ghostly figures multiplied, with witnesses describing ghostly figures peering over the bridge or emerging from the river below, particularly during the eerie hours of the early morning.
The remaining whispers about Black Alice
While the eerie whispers of Black Alice still echo through the streets of Kilkenny, the city remains captivated by its wealthy supernatural history. The legend of Alice Kyteler and the tragic events around John's Bridge have left an indelible mark on the city's consciousness, evoking both fascination and fear.
In the years following the collapse of John's Bridge, sightings of ghostly figures and strange occurrences continued, casting an ethereal veil over the area. Residents and visitors alike shared stories of ghostly figures peering over the bridge or emerging from the depths of the river in the early morning hours. The apparitions served as a constant reminder of the long-standing curse that supposedly haunted the bridge, a curse supposedly coming from the vengeful spirit of Petronella de Meath, Alice's unfortunate maid. Or maybe it was Black Alice herself?
As visitors walk across the bridge, feeling the chill in the air and catching glimpses of shadowy figures, they can't support but wonder: Are they just witnesses to tricks of the mind, or is something more supernatural at play? Perhaps the echoes of the past, the whispers of those hurt or lost, still echo in the present, ensuring that the story of Black Alice and Kilkenny's haunted history will never fade away.
So the mystery remains, inviting recent generations to delve into Kilkenny's history, discover untold secrets and discover the truth behind the haunting tale of Black Alice and John's Bridge.
Reference:
Black Alice | Irish ghost stories from the Emerald Isle
John's Bridge | Haunted Kilkenny, Ireland | Ghost Island
Ghost Stories ~ Sacred Places of Ireland Alicja Kyteler – Wikipedia
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