Locals claim that within the ruins of an old abbey in Ireland they’ll still hear the dying screams of a girl who was buried alive, and likewise feel the dark forces of the Black Witch who practiced dark magic in St. Patrick's Abbey. Catherine.
In the picturesque countryside of County Limerick, Ireland, amidst tranquil countryside, stands silent witness to centuries of history each sacred and macabre – St. Patrick's Abbey. Catherine within the official consecration.
The ruins of what was once an Augustinian abbey are known by many names, reminiscent of Monasternagalliaghduff and Mainistir na gCailleach Dubh. It can be called the Abbey of St. Catherine de O'Conyl or just the Old Abbey.
There are several legends about this place and it is claimed to be haunted to this present day because the dark magic that was once solid still stays there.
The timeless monastery of Monasternagalliaghduff
The Abbey of the Black Witch, dating back to the thirteenth century, is a ruined and abandoned monastery that has witnessed the passage of time and preserved in its ancient stones the stories of the faithful, the echoes of prayers and the secrets of its enigmatic past.
Abbey of St. Catherine is one in all the earliest recorded nunneries in Ireland and was probably in operation until the sixteenth century, until the dissolution of the monasteries in the course of the Reformation in Ireland, or even perhaps earlier.
Countess buried alive within the Abbey of St. Catherine
But it was neither the passage of time nor the hallowed echoes of piety that marked the Abbey of St. Catherine within the annals of Irish folklore. Instead, it’s the spooky legends and ghosts which might be said to haunt the abbey, casting an ominous shadow over the abbey ruins irrespective of how vibrant the sun shines.
One legend comes from Countess Fitzgerald. She was the wife of the Earl of Desmond, who within the fifteenth century had a bloody dispute with the Butler family, i.e. the Earls of Ormond.
The Fitzgerals were attacked, and the Earl intended to take his wife to safety. She was shot within the thigh with an arrow and lost a lot blood throughout the night that the Earl thought she had died after they reached the abbey.
She was buried under the abbey's altar before he quickly drove away. But the nuns began to listen to terrible screams coming from the grave at night. Finally, they decided to open the grave, however it was too late and so they found the countess dead, but with broken fingers and torn nails. She was buried alive and was attempting to claw her way out.
It is believed that she has never found peace and remains to be waiting for her husband to avoid wasting her, still attempting to get out of the grave.
The Story of the Abbey of Saint Catherine the Black Witch
According to local tradition, the last head nun or superior of the abbey of St. Catherine had knowledge of black magic and used it with terrifying skill. According to legends, the Black Witch or Black Nun as she was called was actually a witch and a Satanist.
Her mastery of those forbidden arts solid a protracted shadow of fear over the inhabitants. Whispers about its sinister practices spread like wildfire, giving the abbey a sinister status.
According to legends, the Black Nun wanted power and to realize it, she sold her soul to acquire it. She was said to look emaciated as she had a skeletal figure wearing black robes. It was said that even her face was darkened by ash or dark magic.
The Black Witch's Cell
Nowadays, a room on the southern end of the abbey that when served because the prioress's quarters has develop into infamous because the Black Witch's Cell. It is claimed that it’s on this chamber that the spirit of an alleged witch resides, and her ghostly presence is paying homage to darker chapters of the abbey's history.
It was on this cell that she practiced Dark Magic and worshiped Satan. The other nuns, in line with legend, fled the abbey after they learned what their superior was planning and were left in the dead of night. It will not be known what happened to this alleged witch.
The darkest rumor in regards to the Black Nun is that she sacrificed children during her dark rituals, which were taken from nearby villagers, and that children's bones were actually found on her property.
Bad end for the Black Witch
However, it will not be certain where these legends come from. There were actually some stories to justify the suppression of monasteries in Ireland, when the old Catholicism was seen as something rife with superstition and possible black magic.
Moreover, stories about lonely women living in seclusion have all the time carried with them a touch of witch rumors. Because what on the planet do single, single women do in the event that they should not worshiping Satan?
Terrifying echoes coming from the ruins of the Old Abbey
Locals living near the Abbey of St. Catherines talk in hushed tones at night, disturbed by blood-curdling screams piercing the darkness. They claim that these ghostly wails are the anguished cries of the Black Witch herself, echoing within the lonely hours of the night.
Or perhaps it comes from the spirit of Countess Fitzgerald, who remains to be attempting to let people know she is alive by reenacting her final hours trapped in a coffin.
Ruins of the Abbey of St. Catherine
As the moon solid an ethereal glow on the traditional ruins of St. Patrick's Abbey. Catherine, the whispers of the past disappeared into the night. The haunting echoes of the Black Witch's blood-curdling screams and the anguished screams of Countess Fitzgerald began to fade away, carried by the gentle breeze.
And the Black Witch, a figure shrouded in mystery and fear, progressively disappeared into the land of folklore. Her hostility became a distant memory, eternally entwined with the legends of the abbey.
Ruins of the Abbey of St. Catherine, now bathed in the sunshine of a brand new day, visitors walked along the weathered stones, admiring the great thing about the landscape and contemplating the wealthy history that took place inside these crumbling partitions.
As the sun set over the Abbey of St. Catherine, casting a golden hue on the landscape, a way of peace and confinement reigned throughout the abbey grounds. The stories of the Black Witch and the buried countess have develop into mere echoes floating on the winds of time. Or them?
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