placenamesIsland Magee
Oileán Mhic Aodha
Archaeology around Portmuck and surviving court documents reveal different layers of Island Magee’s history, from timber buildings to accusations of witchcraft.
The name
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
- Oileán Mhic Aodha · Irish · main form · validated name
- Island Magee · English · main form
- Islandmagee · English · main form · local name
Place & story
A settlement beneath the fields
Electricity-cable works at Portmuck in 2000 uncovered part of a medieval rural settlement. Archaeologist Alastair Rees recorded a building interpreted as timber-framed, with stake impressions in its foundation trenches and possible central roof supports. Excavators also found a surfaced trackway, ditches, animal bones and substantial quantities of medieval pottery. Only part of the building was exposed, so its full plan and construction remained matters of interpretation rather than complete reconstruction. [2]
The women accused in 1711
In March 1711, Mary Dunbar accused eight Presbyterian women from Islandmagee and its surrounding district of attacking her through witchcraft. They pleaded not guilty at Carrickfergus Assizes on 31 March. The two judges disagreed over the case, but the jury convicted the women under the 1586 Witchcraft Act. Their sentence was a year in prison and four appearances in the pillory. The surviving records document accusations and punishment, rather than proof of supernatural events. [3]
How the evidence survived
The case can still be studied through a contemporary narrative, witness depositions, letters and newspaper reports. Andrew Sneddon and Shannon Devlin brought these materials together in a freely available documentary edition. Their introduction explains that the depositions were recorded before the trial by Carrickfergus mayor Edward Clements. They also caution that surviving statements may have been reshaped in the recording process. That qualification matters when reading apparently direct accounts of what witnesses claimed to see. [3]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Antrim
- Barony
- Belfast Lower
- Coordinates
- 54.83544, -5.72741 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 1411650 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Island Magee. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- 2000:0015 Portmuck, Islandmagee, AE/00/15 · Alastair Rees, CFA Archaeology, Excavations.ie
- Documents from the Trial of the Islandmagee Witches at Carrickfergus Assizes, County Antrim, Ireland,1711 · Andrew Sneddon and Shannon Devlin, editors, Ulster University
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2021-05-26. How this page was prepared.