Casey in Limerick following return from exile

BISHOP Eamonn Casey was last night believed to be staying with relatives in Co Limerick following his arrival from England on Sunday.

Dr Casey came into Dublin Port on a ferry from Wales in a car driven by a nephew.

They did not travel to Shanaglish in Co Galway where he will spend his retirement in a house provided by the diocese.

Dr Casey has many relatives and friends in Adare where his father was the local creamery manager.

Limerick gardaí are investigating a complaint by a woman who has made an allegation about Dr Casey. It relates to an alleged incident decades ago.

Dr Casey has vehemently denied the claim.

He stepped down from his parish duties in the diocese of Arundel and Brighton when the bishop there brought the allegation to his notice.

Dr Casey had been ministering in the parish of St Paul’s, in Staplefield, Haywards Heath for six years.

It is understood the woman, who is known to Dr Casey, has made an unsubstantiated claim in the past.

She has given a statement to gardaí at Henry Street in Limerick.

They are to seek a meeting with Dr Casey to put the woman’s allegations to him. But that meeting is not expected to take place for some weeks.

Dr Casey has been exiled for 14 years following the revelations of his affair with Annie Murphy, who had a son by him. Peter is now 31 and lives in the US with his mother.

She told a newspaper yesterday that she has met Dr Casey recently and there was a reconciliation.

She said Dr Casey had approached her as he wanted to make his peace with her before anything happened either of them.

The Bishop of Galway, Dr Martin Drennan cleared the way for Dr Casey’s return from exile by allocating him a house in the diocese.

Locals in Shanaglish have welcomed the decision to have Dr Casey retire in their community.