The claim
A stone medieval house on Kilkenny's Medieval Mile, Kyteler's Inn makes the most of its witchcraft story. Dame Alice Kyteler, accused of sorcery in 1324, is said to have kept an inn here, and the building's medieval fabric and mullioned windows are genuine. Recorded as an inn since 1639, it is now a lively music bar and restaurant with a 'Dungeon' bar.
What the records show
The stone building has genuine medieval fabric (NIAH dates origins to c.1250-1300) and is associated with Dame Alice Kyteler, tried for witchcraft in 1324. That she ran an inn here is tradition, and the contemporary record of her prosecution gives it no help: the narrative edited for the Camden Society in 1843, with extracts from the Irish rolls beside it, shows the family as bankers and moneylenders rather than innkeepers, and treats their house as a private one — it reproaches the chancellor for lodging there when his customary lodging in Kilkenny was elsewhere. Wikipedia records the building as an inn since 1639.
| Year | What | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1263 | Claimed founding | The pub |
| c.1275 | Present building | National Inventory of Architectural Heritage |
| 1639 | First record of a drinking house here | Wikipedia, citing Neeley's urban history of Kilkenny for 1639 |
What to look for inside
- Linked to Dame Alice Kyteler, subject of Ireland's first recorded witchcraft trial (1324)
- Recorded as an inn since 1639
- Named Ireland's best music bar in 2012
Visiting
Kyteler's Inn is in Kilkenny, Ireland, at St Kieran's Street, Gardens, Kilkenny. We do not list opening times, because they change; the pub’s own site is the place to check before you set out.
Sources
- www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/12000116/kytelers-inn-saint-kierans-street-gardens-st-johns-par-kilkenny-co-kilkenny
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyteler%27s_Inn
- www.kytelersinn.com/history-of-the-inn/
- www.discoverireland.ie/kilkenny/kytelers-inn
- www.revenue.ie/en/corporate/information-about-revenue/statistics/excise/licences/liquor-licences.aspx
- archive.org/details/contemporarynarr00kyte
Know something we don’t?Suggest a correctionLast checked Oct 2026
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