Fr Michael Kelly, 56, originally from Ballingarry in south Tipperary but working as a priest in northern California since the mid-1970s, received a standing ovation from his parishioners last weekend when he returned to say mass in public for the first time in almost six months.

“It’s a big cloud lifted from his shoulders,” said a family member yesterday.

“This has been hanging over him all this time. He had to move out of his parish house beside the church, he wasn’t able to say mass in the church or do weddings, funerals or baptisms. He could only say mass in private.”

Speaking from Tipperary, the relative said that everybody in the family was “greatly relieved” after the news. “He was there for five and a half months in limbo.”

The sexual abuse allegation — made by a 10-year-old boy who said the offence occurred in the mid-1980s — never resulted in an arrest although it was referred to the Stockton Police Department by the diocese as a matter of procedure.

According to Fr Kelly’s family, the priest undertook a two-hour polygraph test which he passed.

“We’re relieved that it’s all over and his good name has been restored.”

Fr Kelly had been on administrative leave from his position as pastor in the church of St Joachim, Lockeford, about 85 miles inland from San Francisco.

Bishop Stephen Blaire (pictured here above) said that a professional investigator hired by the diocese of Stockton did not find “any evidence of sexual abuse on the part of Fr Kelly” during the investigation.

“After discussing the matter carefully with the Diocesan Review Board, I have made the decision to restore Fr Kelly to active priestly ministry in the diocese,” he said.

The person who made the original claim against the Tipperary priest refused to speak to the bishop about the matter, as did the third party who brought the claim to the diocese’s attention last September.

“I received hundreds of letters in support of Fr Kelly, most of them quite anxious that he be returned quickly to ministry,” said Bishop Blaire.

“However it was necessary that a thorough investigation be undertaken.”

More than 2,000 signatures were collected from the Ballingarry area in Tipperary for a petition of support for Fr Kelly. “It was a great comfort to him and a great reassurance,” said the family member.

Fr Michael Kelly was ordained in Thurles in the early 1970s before moving to America where he has served in a number of parishes in the Californian counties of Stanislaus, San Joaquin and Tuolumne.

He travels to Tipperary at least once a year.