Elizabeth Kerri Mahon

The Magic Circle, John William Waterhouse (1886) One of the first witchcraft trials in Ireland involved a woman named Dame Alice Kyteler. Her case involved the first recorded claims of a witching having intercourse with demons. For over 700 hundred years, her story has fascinated historians. Was she truly a witch or was she a victim brought up on trumped up charges by her jealous and envious stepchildren? Somewhere in the moldy pages of an ancient tome in a dusty library lies the true answer. Witch-hunting was big business in Medieval Europe. It is estimated that some 100,000 men and women were executed on suspicion of witchcraft during this period, and laws against witchcraft remained on the books as late as the 19th century. In Ireland, however, there were still people who followed the old ways, blending the ancient Celtic religion with Christianity. There were very few witch hunts so the trial of Dame Alice Kyteler sent shockwaves throughout the country. Dame Alice Kyteler was a...

Amanda McCabe who writes as Laurel McKee for Grand Central Publishing has a new series out set in Ireland. The first book is appropriately enough called Countess of Scandal . To celebrate her release this month, she's been featuring Irish Heroines over at her blog, some of whom were pretty Scandalous. So far she's featured The Countess Markiewicz, and now Margaret King, whose governess was once Mary Wollstonecraft. I came across Margaret when I was researching Mary for Scandalous Women (the book, not the blog). You can read about Margaret here . I can't wait to find out who she's going to feature next weekend.