Ireland’s last witch trial is being brought to life in a new virtual reality (VR) experience at the Carrickfergus Museum in time for Halloween.
Called ‘Demonised: Possessed and Bewitched’, the experience launches on 9 September and is part of a new exhibition on the trial of the ‘Islandmagee witches’ in Carrickfergus in 1711.
Via BBC, the experience features cutting-edge VR developed by Belfast technology firm Sentireal on behalf of Ulster University.
The VR project “has allowed us to bring this important piece of our history to life in a way that will engage people in the 21st century”, said Dr Helen Jackson, senior lecturer in interactive media at Ulster University.
‘Islandmagee witches’ in VR
She added, “We wanted people to give people a sense of what it means to be persecuted and that feeling of being disorientated, confused and alienated and even nervous when you know everyone is against you.”
In what is believed to have been the last witch trial to take place anywhere in Ireland, eight women were put on trial and found guilty of exercising witchcraft on the body of a young woman called Mary Dunbar.
Through virtual reality, visitors will be transported to Islandmagee where they will find themselves in the place of an accused witch or Mary Dunbar.
“When you’ve the headset on, the people you hear in your ears when the town folks are whispering about you, that’s actually our drama students,” said Dr Victoria McCollum, senior lecturer in cinematic arts at Ulster University.
‘Demonised: Possessed and Bewitched’
“It was a chance for our students to get into the studio and create something that would become concrete and work with industry leaders.”
Running until 16 November, the exhibition includes a range of objects from Carrickfergus Museum’s collection, as well as loaned items from National Museums Northern Ireland, National Library of Ireland and Belfast Central Library.
Dr Andrew Sneddon, senior lecturer in international history and co-author of the book The Witches of Islandmagee, said: “The project is designed to take the hidden history of Ireland’s last witch trial to new audiences using new technologies and approaches. It taps into an essential part of Ireland’s cultural heritage and allows people to navigate, in an interactive way, the moral choices and dilemmas in accusing someone of witchcraft in the early modern world.”
Images courtesy of Carrickfergus Museum
