The Witches of Islandmagee

Originally posted on historywithatwist:

Illustration of witches, perhaps being tortured before James VI and I, from his Daemonologie (1597)

In this month of spooks and witches, we tend to laugh off the whole ‘demonic possession’ thing as a bit of a joke, but there was a time when accusing someone of witchcraft had very real and very dire consequences. What follows is all true, and revisits the last witchcraft trial to be held in Ireland.

It all began one night in September 1710, when Mrs A...