For more than twenty years Father Michael Cleary led a very public life and was known for being outspoken and often controversial. Throughout the eighties and early nineties he spoke out for the church on divisive issues such as abortion, divorce and most contentiously of all the X-case. But in death Michael Cleary became a far more controversial figure than he had ever been during his lifetime, and ironically will be remembered more for what he didn’t speak about than anything he ever said while he was alive. Because for twenty-six years he had a secret relationship with his housekeeper Phyllis Hamilton and the couple had two children; the first Michael Ivor was put up for adoption in 1970, the youngest, Ross, was born in 1976. This week’s Scannal features the first television interview with Ross, Michael Cleary’s son, since his mother died from cancer in 2001. In it he talks about his memories of his mother and father’s relationship, both in public and private, and his own relationship with his parents. He also talks about going public with the story and the pressures of not being believed for six long years until it was proven beyond doubt by DNA testing that Father Michael Cleary was his father. The programme also features an interview with psychiatrist Professor Ivor Browne who treated Phyllis from the age of twelve after she had had an abusive childhood and had spent time in various institutions. Browne remained a friend for the rest of her life and was aware of her secret relationship for twenty years, urging her to leave on a number or occasions. He also confronted Cleary about it and in the early seventies, he even went as far as setting up a meeting between the couple and Cleary’s mentor and friend Bishop Eamon Casey. Neither Browne nor Cleary were aware at the time, that Casey himself had secretly fathered a child. The programme also includes a clip from Peter Lennon’s documentary film “Rocky Road to Dublin” which was fil