The Islandmagee Witch Trials of 1711

Dark Histories

Ben Cutmore

History

4.8 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 3 February 2025

⏱️ 65 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the windswept town of Islandmagee, County Antrim, in the year 1711, fear took root, and hysteria fanned the flames of injustice. Eight women—healers, widows, and outcasts—stood accused of witchcraft, charged with tormenting a young girl through dark sorcery. In an Ireland largely untouched by witch trials, this case became an eerie echo of Salem’s horrors. As whispers turned to accusations, the trial unfolded with damning testimonies, spectral evidence, and the weight of superstition, as women turned to spiders, victims vomited pins and feathers and panic and politics conquered over reason. SOURCES Sneddon, Andrew (2013) Possessed by the Devil. The History Press Ireland, Dublin, Ireland. Sneddon, Andrew (2015) Witchcraft & Magic in Ireland. Palgrave macmillan, London, UK. Tisdall, William (1775) Account of the Trial of Eight Reputed Witches. The Hibernian magazine, or, Compendium of entertaining knowledge v.5. ------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at [email protected] or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:29.8	If we want to take an honest look at history, we need to know about the people writing that
0:34.7	history. The work itself can't really be removed from the personal journey of the person that writes
0:40.0	it.
0:40.3	So, on season one of the Historians' Table, we'll be getting to know historian Dr. Diego Javier
0:45.5	Luis as we hear stories from his book, The First Asians in the Americas.
0:49.4	If you want to understand the history of the country, you've got to have Asian American
0:52.4	history.
0:52.9	Listen to the Historians Table, a six-part narrative series on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you share
0:59.3	podcasts. In the windswept town of Ila McGee, County Antrim, in the year 1711, fear took root,
1:07.2	and hysteria fanned the flames of injustice. Eight women, healers, widows and outcasts,
1:13.8	stood accused of witchcraft,
1:15.7	charged with tormenting a young girl through dark sorcery.
1:20.0	In an island, largely untouched by witch trials,
1:23.3	this case became an eerie echo of Sarlum's horrors.
1:27.0	As whispers turned to accusations,
1:29.2	the trial unfolded with damning testimonies,
1:32.1	spectral evidence and the weight of superstition,
1:34.8	as women turned into spiders,
1:37.2	victims vomited pins and feathers,
1:39.8	and panic and politics conquered over reason.
	...

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