Michael Cleary (priest)

Born to Daniel Cleary, (Co. Tipperary) and Nellie Cleary (née Lavin), Co. Roscommon)). He was the only son in a family of 5 children.The family lived in Blanchardstown, Co. Dublin where his father, a publican, owned the Greyhound public house. Cleary attended Clongowes Wood College, Co. Kildare a private Jesuit boarding school. Later, Cleary attended Clonliffe College where he studied Theology. Cleary was ordained in 1958. As an adult, he lived in Rathmines Road in Dublin. He participated in some of the social changes of the 1960s and 1970s, saying he had used drugs. He was strongly devoted to care for the poor and working on poverty and community development issues. In the 1960s, Cleary discussed the Catholic clergy's attitudes to celibacy, sex and marriage in the Irish documentary film Rocky Road to Dublin (1967). He admitted to a personal preference for being married and having a family, but said that the role and necessary sacrifices of being a priest were a valid substitute. Cleary had one of the highest profiles of any cleric in Ireland throughout the 1970s and 1980s. During the 1979 Papal visit to Ireland, Cleary sang to the crowd of 200,000 at Ballybrit before the Pope made his appearance. He was a powerful and charismatic figure within the church. He was particularly devoted to raising the issue of poverty in Ireland, especially in Dublin, where he worked for change in inner-city communities. == Secret life ==

Three weeks after his death in December 1993 (from throat cancer), when it was therefore no longer liable to be sued for defamation, The Phoenix, a national news magazine, published an article alleging that Cleary had fathered a child, Ross Hamilton, with Phyllis Hamilton who had worked as his longtime housekeeper. This claim was subsequently repeated and it was suggested that it should be confirmed by DNA analysis. The remaining Cleary family who volunteered to provide their own DNA refused to acknowledge the boy, nor has any DNA evidence been forthcoming or provided by any of the claimed children. Cleary allegedly had a secret 26-year relationship with Hamilton that started in the 1960s when she was 17 and he was about 34. They allegedly had two sons, the first given up for adoption and the second they allegedly raised together. Hamilton was later supported by psychiatrist Ivor Browne, who also publicised her story with her consent. In 1999, the Dublin Circuit Court held a private hearing and, based on DNA evidence, determined that Cleary was the biological father of Hamilton's son. Paul Williams (Irish journalist) and Hamilton wrote a memoir published by Williams in 1995 called "Secret Love: my life with Father Michael Cleary"; in it Hamilton claims that they had taken marriage vows in a private ceremony with no third party present. She died in 2001 from ovarian cancer. Documentary On 21 April 2008, the documentary film The Holy Show (RTE, entitled "At Home with the Clearys; also entitled "The Father, the Son & the Housekeeper) was shown on BBC One. This 90 minute film was based on footage shot when the director, Alison Millar, a friend of Cleary's niece, stayed with Cleary in his household as a student in 1991. At the time, his true relationship with Hamilton and their children was secret. After the scandal broke, Millar used the old footage and recent interviews with Cleary's family to examine the changing roles of the church and social changes in Ireland. The film won several awards: • 2008 Irish Film & Television Award for Best Single Documentary • 2008 Prix Italia award for Best Documentary • 2008 Boston Irish Film Festival award for Best Documentary • 2008 Celtic Film Frank Copplestone First Time Director Award • Nominated for 2009 BAFTA Break-Through Talent Award for director Alison Millar Another programme, In the Name of the Father, was produced on Scannal, RTÉ One about Father Michael Cleary and his complicated life. ==References==