Moynihan v Moynihan
| Jurisdiction | Ireland |
| Judgment Date | 29 July 1975 |
| Date | 29 July 1975 |
| Docket Number | [1972 No. 267 P] |
| Court | Supreme Court |
Vicarious liability -Infant guest - Infant upsetting teapot and being scalded - Liability of householder for act of adult guest.
The infant plaintiff was two years old at the date of her accident. The defendant was the mother of the plaintiff's father, and she lived in her house with her adult daughter. The plaintiff's father and mother and the plaintiff were invited by the defendant to her house for a meal. When everyone had finished eating, it was decided that a pot of tea should be prepared. The plaintiff's father left the house; the plaintiff's mother left the breakfast-room, where the meal had been eaten, and started to wash the dishes in the adjoining kitchen; the defendant went into the kitchen and started drying the washed dishes; and the defendant's daughter made the tea. The plaintiff remained in the breakfast-room; it was possible for the plaintiff's mother to see into the breakfast-room from her position in the kitchen. When she had made the tea, the defendant's daughter placed a brightly-coloured tea cosy on the teapot and placed the teapot on the breakfast-room table; she then left the breakfast-room hurriedly to answer a telephone which was ringing in the hall of the house; while she was absent, the plaintiff upset the contents of the teapot over herself. The plaintiff was seriously injured and she claimed damages in the High Court for the alleged negligence of the defendant, her servants and agents. At the...
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