This site is dedicated to uncovering the importance of the trial of eight women and one man at Carrickfergus Assize court in 1711, how it was represented and remembered, and how people can derive meaning from these traumatic historical events. We hope that by exploring our past, we can help understand our present and shape the future.
This site will help you understand why a group of Presbyterians of Scots descent, living in north-east Ulster in what is now Northern Ireland would become known as the ‘Islandmagee witches’. In doing so, it throws insight on the lives, culture and beliefs of different layers of Ulster-Scots society in the early eighteenth century; most importantly on the ‘witches’ themselves, who were poor, marginalised people with disabilities who would otherwise be lost to history.
Although long remembered in local culture, folklore and folk history, this trial remains a neglected part of Ulster-Scots and Irish social and cultural history. This site aims to deepen your knowledge of early modern witch-hunting and how this important episode of European history played out on Irish shores. This was after all the last mass witch trial held on Irish soil, and represented what was in essence a Scottish witchcraft case, held in Ulster in Ireland, and tried under English witchcraft laws and court system.
On this site, you can engage with this case in many different ways: INTERPRET, articles and documents from the time; LISTEN to carefully crafted soundscapes associated with the Islandmagee witches; READ a dark graphic novel; EXPERIENCE what it’s like to be bewitched and/or accused of witchcraft in our VR app; and explore our new video game Demonised: The Islandmagee Witches, a choice-driven serious game in which you play the role of a witch Hunter in 1700’s Ireland. We invite you to #GetGraphicWithHistory.
–Dr Andrew Sneddon & Dr Victoria McCollum
MEET THE TEAM
Principal Investigators
Andrew Sneddon is the leading expert on the history of the Islandmagee witch trial of 1711, and has published widely on Irish witchcraft and magic, including four books. He has spent the last decade taking the untold story of the Islandmagee witches and Irish witchcraft to new, diverse, international audiences. He has worked with numerous libraries, archives, museums, community, educational, and women’s groups, and regularly appears on local and national TV and Radio, including BBC, ITV, TG4 and RTE. Between 2016 and 2021, he was historical consultant on the first 6 part series dedicated to Irish witchcraft, ‘Diabhal Inti (The Devil’s in Her), produced by Lagan Media. He is the President of Ireland’s oldest professional historical society, Ulster Society for Irish Historical Studies. Read more here.
Victoria McCollum is an internationally recognised educator and researcher from Ulster University who writes books on films, TV shows and video games (especially horror), to explain why popular culture matters in helping us gain a deeper understanding of our moment in time. She has collaborated on projects with Apple, Cartoon Network, Cinemax, Facebook, HBO, New Line Cinema, RTE, Sky Atlantic, Telltale Games, Time Warner, Twitter and Universal Music Group. Read more here.
Collaborators
Adam Melvin / Chris McCann: Original Score
Brian Coyle / Sabrina Minter: Video Game
Lisa Fitzpatrick / Amanda Finch: Drama
Shannon Devlin: Historical Documents
David Campbell: Graphic Novel
Helen Jackson: AR/VR
Gerard Gibson: VFX
For general questions and press enquiries:
© Copyright Victoria McCollum and Andrew Sneddon 2025
Witches of Islandmagee 