MarketDeath of Michael Leahy
Company Profile

Death of Michael Leahy

Michael Leahy was a child who died by drowning in 1826 in County Kerry, Ireland. Leahy was four years old at the time of his death. He was believed by some in his community to have been a changeling and the drowning was the result of an attempt to cure him.

Mythological background
A changeling was a child left by fairies after they had stolen a healthy human child. The suspicion in Leahy's case resulted from his illness. He could neither speak nor stand. Under cross-examination a witness said that the drowning was not done with the intent of killing the child but to cure him – "to put the fairy out of it". ==Legal verdict==
Legal verdict
The court, at the direction of the judge, found Roche not guilty of murder. There were several similar cases in rural Ireland in the 19th century. ==Popular culture==
Popular culture
Hannah Kent's novel, The Good People, takes inspiration from this case. Kent said that she could find only two primary source articles on the case after extensive research and many details about the case are unknown. ==See also==
tickerdossier.comtickerdossier.substack.com