Opera inspired by Youghal witch casts a spell

The case of a woman who was accused of witchcraft in Co Cork and prosecuted at a sensational trial in 1661 forms the plot of a new opera by the acclaimed avant-garde composer, Raymond Deane.

While thousands of non-conformist women were being burned at stakes across Europe, Ireland’s cohort escaped relatively unscathed. There are only a tiny handful of such trials in the records.