Michael Cleary

Michael Cleary (23 November 1933 – 31 December 1993) was an Irish Roman Catholic priest, who also became a radio and TV personality.

Coming to public knowledge due to frequent appearances on RTE's Late Late Show, Cleary has been described in some sources as a "powerful and charismatic figure" in the Catholic Church in Ireland. 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.

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 and Hamilton wrote a memoir published by Williams in 1995 called "Secret Love: My Life with Father Michael Cleary" in which 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.