The Devil To Pay: The Story of Alice and Petronilla

by Hugh Fitzgerald Ryan

Kilkenny, 1324. Alice Kyteler, outspoken daughter of a wealthy Flemish banker, has survived four husbands and is beset by the gossip and rivalry of a medieval Anglo-Norman town. Her beautiful maid is Petronilla, child of an itinerant shoemaker, her lover Sir Arnaud le Poer is seneschal and lord of south Leinster. Her nemesis is Richard de Ledrede, English Fransciscan, scholar, poet and now bishop of Ossory, determined to reassert clerical power and restore the dilapidated cathedral. To him Alice embodies the moral laxity of the age, her irreverence and knowlege of healing feeding his anger and obsession with witchcraft. Outside the city walls the native Irish are resurgent after 150 years of dispossession. In the streets of Kilkenny, crowds gather around the stake. In The Devil to Pay, HUGH RYAN tells the true story of Alice and Petronilla – portrayed against a backdrop of the struggles between Norman and Gael – bringing to life a remarkable tapestry of this pivotal era in Irish history.

303 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2010

About the author

Hugh FitzGerald Ryan was born in Skerries, Ireland in 1941, one of seven children. He remarks that this was not a great time to be born, as the German army was sweeping all before them on their advance to Stalingrad. However things worked out better than had been expected. He regards himself as having been fortunate in life. He and his wife, Margaret have eight great children and eleven grandchildren. He got enormous satisfaction from his work as a teacher. He still loves to see a child getting a grip on life, learning to talk and walk, grasping an idea, riding a bike, learning to swim. He is heartened to see the younger generation taking over and wishes them a better world than the one they have inherited.

He has published seven novels with several Irish and American publishers. Two of them have been optioned for film. Inexplicably, the money was not forthcoming. If you should find a few million down the back of the couch, he can still put you in touch with some film people who would like to talk to you. In view of the large family, he reckons that his best fiction over the years, has been written for his bank managers

His novels deal with historical themes: THE KYBE -Napoleonic Wars; REPRISAL First World War in which his father was wounded in the battle of the Somme; ON BORROWED GROUND, growing up in 1950s Ireland, ANCESTRAL VOICES, the insurrection of 1798, IN THE SHADOW OF THE OMBÚ TREE, the story of his great grandparents who eloped to South America in the 1860s,This required two journeys to Uruguay to trace their lives among the Gauchos. Unfortunately John Cardiff, his great grandfather turned out to be a scoundrel and a cheat. He feels that this strain has been bred out of the family over the years, So far so good. THE DEVIL TO PAY, the story of the Kilkenny witch trial of 1324. The servant maid was found guilty and burned on the orders of Bishop Ledrede. Her mistress, Alice Kyteler, the chief suspect escaped, either by witchcraft or by means of her great wealth. LANDFALL a novel of the Elizabethan adventurers who searched for the North West Passage, raided the Spanish treasure ships and dismembered Ireland in the 16th Century.

As a life-long painter, He is pleased to see one of his paintings on the cover of LANDFALL

Reviews

[Kersty Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very well written well researched historical story. The author definitely brought the characters to life n got into their psyche with all the religion n superstition of the time described in detail, as if he had been there himself. I was travelling back in time while reading this book n experienced much of what was happening - the explicit description of cruelty was sometimes hard to stomach. It is, all in all a very dark story n the only thing lacking was a description of everyday positive or pleasant events n made 1 or 2 characters more cheerful - everyone was so serious all the time.

I read this book, because I like history written in story form n since I moved to Kilkenny have become fascinated by Dame Alice Kyteler, as there are no clear records of who she really was, except that she n the other main characters in the book really existed.

[Deborah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Still reading this. Not a book I would normally read but a bookclub choice. Set around 1324 in Kilkenny, Ireland this book tells the story of Alice and Petronilla, a wealthy woman and her maid. It is set against a backdrop of the struggles between the Norman and Irish populations. Very well researched and detailed historically. Unfortunately, not my type of book and am finding it very tedious. Will update when finished. Finished today. Still not my type of book. I think it would have benefited from a little more editing. Found it very hard to read.