The eight accused were Janet Carson, Janet Latimer, Janet Main (also written Mean), Janet Millar, Margaret Mitchell, Catherine McCalmond, Janet Liston and Elizabeth Sellor. All were Presbyterian women from Islandmagee or nearby. The trial was held at Carrickfergus on 31 March 1711 before two judges on the north-east circuit, Anthony Upton and James Macartney. The proceedings are said to have run from early morning until about two in the afternoon, with around twenty witnesses, including Presbyterian ministers.
Upton noted the defendants' good character and church attendance and directed the jury towards acquittal. Macartney argued for conviction. The jury convicted all eight under the Witchcraft Act of 1586. Evidence included Mary Dunbar's fits, her descriptions of the women who tormented her, and marks on the accused that were read as signs of a pact with the devil.
The sentence was one year's imprisonment, with four appearances in the pillory. The carrying out of that punishment is covered in a separate record. This is why the case matters: it came late, when most of Britain and Europe had stopped prosecuting witchcraft, and it happened in a community of ordinary Presbyterian farmers and fishermen.
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