By Sean O’Driscoll

A PROMINENT member of a New York City Ancient Order of Hibernians division is to appeal after a New York Supreme Court judge castigated him for trying to force his surname on his three-year-old daughter.

Judge Arthur Schack accused accountant Sean Wilson, a former president of the southern Manhattan AOH Division 1, of “histrionics worthy of a Harlequin romance novel” after Wilson said that he wanted his daughter to have his surname and avoid the embarrassment of having unmarried parents.

Wilson also argued in court documents that he wanted to change the birth certificate of his daughter, Claudia, because he is a prominent Catholic and because the “mere mention” of the Wilson name brought complete respect in Ireland.

However, the judge said it would be an “unhallowed perversion” to change the child’s certificate. Wilson had a relationship with Caroline Kilkenny, a sister of another AOH member, and Claudia was born in April of 2003.

Kilkenny has argued in court that she should not have to give up the Kilkenny name for her child, and that Wilson would not communicate calmly with her.

The case has been marred by AOH infighting and claims by Wilson that he is being intimidated. Wilson, a former AOH delegate to Manhattan’s New York City St. Patrick’s Day parade, said he could not comment directly on the case as he is preparing an appeal that will take six to eight months to come to court.

He said he decided to launch the appeal because of the “very ill-tempered” comments of Schack, who denounced his case as something out of a Harlequin novel or “what was once known in Hollywood as a “four hankie movie.”

The judge noted that the petition to change the birth and baptism certificates of Claudia Kilkenny, 3, to Claudia Wilson was “replete with accusations about the mother’s alleged reprehensible and irresponsible conduct, as contrasted with the father’s self-suffering assertions of religious devotion, piety, and upstanding behavior.”

Noting that Wilson claimed his family heritage in Ireland “has a depth of history and vitality that procures immediate respect and good will in that region by the mere mention of my surname, Wilson,” and that Wilson wanted to “prevent scorn and contempt from befalling Claudia as being associated as a societal bastard child,” Schack said the petition seemed to be really about punishing Kilkenny and not about the best interests of the child.

He said that that Caroline Kilkenny had already amended Claudia’s birth certificate to acknowledge Wilson as the father and said that the U.S. Constitution’s strict separation of church and state prohibited the court from compelling the Catholic Church to alter baptism certificates.

However, Wilson indicted this week that he is to launch an appeal under the fundamental family freedoms guaranteed under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The case follows bitter accusations among AOH members after the relationship broke down. Wilson has since left the Manhattan AOH because of the dispute and claims that he is still living the order’s Catholic lifestyle at his home in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

He is no longer on speaking terms with Caroline Kilkenny’s brother, David, another prominent AOH member, or another Kilkenny brother, Tobias, who runs a bed and breakfast in Knock, Co Mayo.

This week, David Kilkenny told the Irish Voice that he wished Wilson the best.

“He’s running to the courts, he’s running to the papers. I wish him good luck but it’s time for this to end,” he said.

“I’m not going to get into all of this. In my time, you got married, you settled down, you had kids, you did your best for your family. Maybe times are changing. That’s just the way I was raised and I wish Sean and Caroline could do the same but that’s not how it’s going to be,” he added.

Sean and Caroline first started dating in late 2001 after they met through David Kilkenny, who had moved to Manhattan AOH Division 1 from another AOH division.

Wilson’s relationship with Kilkenny continued until August 2002, and Claudia Rose Kilkenny was born on April 29, 2003 in Bronxville, New York. Claudia has lived with her mother since then in Yonkers and later in northern Westchester County.

In 2003, the couple agreed in court that Caroline should have sole custody and that Sean should have visitation rights. Both parents agreed to keep each other informed and raise Claudia as a Catholic.

Reviewing this agreement, Schack said that an agreement to raise Claudia as Catholic would not force the Catholic Church to amend a baptism certificate so that a child would carry her father’s surname.

He rejected a claim by Wilson that such a measure would “immeasurably protect Claudia’s innocence and substantially promote any potential religious aspirations Claudia may possess in the near future.”

In her response to Wilson’s claims, Kilkenny said Wilson did not communicate with her “in a reasonable fashion, preferring instead to take a generally abusive and uncivil tone through his succession of lawyers.”

The judge accepted that communication had broken down and rejected Wilson’s added claims that he had an MBA, is a respected accountant and is a practicing Roman Catholic and a member of the AOH.

He said Wilson’s profession, Catholicism and Irish heritage were all admirable but rejected claims that the name change would save Claudia “the embarrassment associated with being a fatherless child,” “avoid any feelings of alienation arising in the child from having a different surname from that her father” and “prevent scorn and contempt from befalling Claudia as being associated as a societal bastard child.”

The judge agreed with Caroline Kilkenny that beyond “bald assertions” Wilson has failed to provide any proof that the best interests of the child would be promoted by changing her name.

Citing a 1962 Supreme Court case, he said it would be an “unhallowed perversion” if he was to interfere with Catholic Church business.

“The judiciary is precluded from interfering with wholly religious matters within any church, synagogue, mosque, temple or any other religious institution. The Roman Catholic Church’s decision with respect to Claudia’s baptismal certificate must be uninhibited by state interference,” he said.