In Irish Witchcraft and Demonology, Anglican priest and historian St. John D. Seymour traces the 500-year history of witchcraft and sorcery in Ireland, beginning with the sensational trial of Dame Alice Kyteler who, in 1324, was accused of using black magic to hasten the death of her fourth husband, John le Poer. Drawn from judicial and ecclesiastical records of the day, Seymour's vivid account presents the accusations of plaintiffs and the defences of the accused in their own words. His chronicle of the terrifying afflictions and sufferings reported by the victims of witchcraft and the grim retribution meted out to its supposed practitioners provides an illuminating dark history of what he describes as "the strange beliefs that lie in some remote lumber-room at the back of the brain."