The Kilkenny Witch Trial of 1324 remains one of the most dramatic events in Irish history. While books, podcasts, workshops and tours are ideal ways to explore this subject, social media is increasingly the point of engagement for most people particularly younger audiences. With this in mind, this proposal outlines a plan to present the story using a series of shorts (for use on social media platforms). Summarising a complex story into a medium that favours brevity is challenging but has great potential. With this is mind each short will not exceed 60 seconds. (this is essential for use on YouTube Shorts) A minority of users watch on social media platforms watch content in its entirety, so key information will be frontloaded in the first 5-10 seconds. The style will use cut outs of the presenter (historian Fin Dwyer) explaining the story to the backdrop to a collage of images and videos playing in the background. The topic will be dealt with in a sensitive and respectful fashion. Each short will be fully captioned, an essential feature to increase engagement. The proposed outline of the series is as follows:

• Witch burning in medieval Europe.
• Who was Alice Kyteler?
• The Charges against Alice.
• Why did people believe the charges/Life at the time?
• The trial.
• Alice’s Escape.
• What happened to Petronilla?
• The Aftermath

https://www.kilkennyheritage.ie 

https://www.kilkennylibrary.ie 

Time TBC

Please note that the details of events listed above are provided by the relevant Local Authorities.