Paedophile priest Fr Kevin Laheen was one of 15 deceased Jesuits named in the damning report on sexual predators within the order.
Dubliner Danielle Meagher-Collins, whose grandmother Dolores Meagher gave birth to a boy fathered by Fr Laheen, said she is breaking her silence "to strip away the veil of secrecy" and in the hope that other abuse victims of Fr Laheen will come forward.
She described Laheen as a "demonic monster and very manipulative".
The baby boy, also named Kevin, was born in a private nursing home at 17 Earlsfort Terrace on July 3, 1966, and forcibly taken from Dolores Meagher by the nuns who ran the home. He died a number of days later.
Danielle told the how Fr Laheen "infiltrated our family by manipulation and coercion".
Danielle said her beloved grandmother Dolores, a famed opera singer and member of the Irish National Opera, “never recovered” after the little boy's death.
Baby Kevin's birth certificate states he was born on July 3, 1966, but there is no death certificate for the child other than one burial document from the cemetery archives.
The cause of death is listed as “prematurity”, but the exact date for his death was not recorded. His funeral was on July 7, 1966, at 10.55am.
Fr Laheen, who was a high-profile priest in Dublin in the 1960s and worked at a number of private second-level colleges including Belvedere and Gonzaga, was approaching his 50s at the time of the pregnancy. Dolores Meagher was in her 20s. She was married to John Meagher, with three children, when she became pregnant.
Speaking for the first time about baby Kevin, Danielle said: “Fr Laheen was obsessed with my grandmother, and he followed her everywhere — from the National Concert Hall, and then on tour."
“He then fathered baby Kevin with my granny. The little boy was taken away at birth and died a week later."
She said the despair suffered by her grandmother "was not just about the death of the child, but also the circumstances surrounding the child being taken away immediately by the nuns".
"She was screaming for them to give the baby back to her."
Dolores Meagher was married when she gave birth to Kevin, but Danielle says the baby was accepted by the family.
"My grandfather knew and the marriage carried on, everyone knew. It just seemed to be accepted that he was born and died," Danielle said.
“My granny and granddad were the best of friends, there was never any animosity.
“My grandfather was a devout Catholic. I actually think that Fr Laheen commandeered the family and said this is what is happening. It was an abuse of power.
“He was almost like a cockroach in every corner of the house and every generation that passed through that house where they lived in Clontarf. Nobody could get rid of him."
Danielle said she wanted to speak publicly about baby Kevin as it weighed heavily on her mind after reading which was published by the order in February.
That report documents how, in 1967, serious concerns were conveyed to the order by a third party about the behaviour of Fr Kevin Laheen when he was giving a school retreat.
In 1999, Fr Laheen informed the order that a complaint of child sexual abuse had been made to gardaí about him and that this was under investigation by gardaí. A complaint by a third party, relating to the 1960s but received after Fr Laheen's death, is also referenced in documents.
“There has been 70 years of cover-ups within the order. I dread to think of the number of children that were in contact with Fr Laheen," Danielle said.
She said she was "utterly devastated" when she read the Jesuit report.
“What happened in consequence of the complaints? There is no record of any action being taken against Fr Laheen regarding the complaint raised in 1967. Following the complaint made to the gardaí in late 1999, the DPP decided not to prosecute”.
The Jesuit Order asked Fr Laheen to withdraw from all public ministry and involvement with minors in 2000. An apology and acknowledgement were issued to the survivors of abuse in the report.
“I am in blind fury” Danielle said. “People had to have known. Fr Laheen was a demonic monster, he was always in our family, and he was very manipulative."
Danielle has launched a website called babykevinglasnevin.com. The site has a contact form and she is hoping more people may come forward with details about Fr Laheen and his behaviour.
"I am gathering and am mapping his movements over the 81 years”.
Danielle said she is aware of a number of redress applications made to the Jesuit Order in relation to Fr Laheen.
Ironically, both baby Kevin and Fr Laheen are buried in Glasnevin. Baby Kevin’s grave is just a few feet from the main entrance. His name is inscribed on the side of the family's large headstone, where Danielle’s ancestors are buried, including her granny Dolores, with the inscription: “Their infant Grandson, Kevin died 3 July 1966."
“This is one of the saddest things you will see in the cemetery, baby Kevin’s name on the side of the headstone. He was never a secret in our family. He was never forgotten."
Danielle is asking people passing through Dublin to lay a yellow flower by his grave, “to diminish the secrecy of his birth”.
“The colour yellow denotes new beginnings and a new chapter," said Danielle.
When Fr Laheen's ashes were buried in Glasnevin in 2019, a large number of Jesuits turned up.
“I want to know who knew about baby Kevin in the order? My grandmother had been in hospital for over a week and the medical bill for baby Kevin was quite large. They did not have money by then to pay that bill. So, who paid for it?
"The Jesuits were aware of his depravity and chose to move him around, elevating him to a form of clerical of celebrity. He was photographed with Terry Wogan at one point. A full independent investigation is needed into this case.”
The Jesuit Order has been asked to comment.