IRELAND
Irish Independent
Mark O’Regan
OUTSPOKEN priest Fr Brian D’Arcy has said the Catholic Church must provide “all necessary support” for an American woman if DNA tests prove Fr Michael Cleary is her biological father.
Fr D’Arcy, who was a close friend of ‘Fr Mick’, said he was traumatised when he first discovered Cleary had fathered two children, with his housekeeper and secret lover, Phyllis Hamilton. “Something died inside me,” he said.
However, with the passing of time he admitted he wasn’t particularly surprised when he read about Felicia Irwin’s story in Saturday’s Irish Independent.
Fr Cleary began a relationship with Phyllis Hamiliton when she was 17 years old and he was 34.
Their first child was given up for adoption, while their second son, Ross Hamilton, lived in the house with Phyllis and the priest.
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