Troubled Times For Ulster Witches

Fear of witchcraft was common in Ulster in the early 1700s, leading to at least one mass trial and church-inspired inquiries into claims of witchcraft – particularly in County Antrim, according to University of Ulster historian Dr Máirtín Ó Catháin.

Planters and migrants arriving in 17th century Ulster brought a belief in the existence of witches which had gripped the Lowlands of Scotland – echoing the witchcraft panics of mainland Europe.

As time passed, however, and arguably through a determination not to relive the impassioned atmosphere of Scotland’s witch-hunts, Presbyterian clerics may have adopted a more sensible attitude towards the investigation of supposed witchcraft here, said Dr Ó Catháin.

“Witches – or, more properly, suspected witches – were Public Enemy Number One in Scotland for much of the 17th century." Full Story

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