The nearby inn was established as one of the first inns in Ireland by Dame Alice de Kyteler in the 13th Century. It is now a famous pub and restourant which is well worth a visit, even though you don't buy anything.
Alice de Kyteler was born in Kyteler's House, Kilkenny, in 1280 as a daughter of a wealthy Norman banker. During her life she was married four times, made a considerable fortune, and had to flew to England to avoid being burned.
Her first husband was called William Outlawe and was a local banker. They got a son called William, but after just a few years of marriage her husband grew ill and died. Shortly after she married the wealthy Adam de Blund of Cullen, who soon after died suddenly and mysteriously. After inheriting her two first wealthy husbands, Alice married Richard de Valle, and once again her husband died early, suddenly and mysteriously.
Alice then married the landowner, Sir. John de Poer, who after a few years of marriage grew weak and became sick. Shortly before he passed away he changed his Will to benefit Alice and her son William. This made other family members angry and jealous and they brought charges of witchcraft and sorcery before the English born Franciscan Bishop of Ossory, Richard de Lederer. They claimed that Alice had bewitched her husband and forced him to change his Will. A Court of Inquisition was started which included five knights and several Noblemen, and they were told that Alice was the head of a coven of witches and that she had sex with a demon called Artissen or Aethiops, the mythical founder of Ethiopia.
Bishop Lederer then tried to get the Temporal Authority to arrest and condemn Alice, her son William and several of her friends and servants, but the Bishop himself was arrested and thrown into Kilkenny jail. When he was realized he again tried to get Alice arrested, and she fled to England. A year after she returned to Dublin and urged the Archbishop to condemn the Bishop of Ossory for unlawfully excommunication of her. After a showdown in Dublin, the bishop returned to Kilkenny, once again demanding Alice arrested, and she once again fled to England.
In Kilkenny, Alice's son, William Outlawe, was sentenced to attend three masses every day and give money to the poor. Some of Alice's friends and servants where tortured, including her maid Petronella who was tortured, whipped and then burned.
After Alice's second escape to England she disappears from the history books, but her Inn is still very much alive.