MS MICHELLE ROCCA told the High Court yesterday that the first sign of violence from Mr Cathal Ryan was when he "went for me" when they were living together in 1989.
She said she had scratched his face in self defence when he was trying to drag her up the stairs when he was drunk.
Ms Rocca (38) of Hampton Crescent, Booterstown, Co Dublin, is claiming damages for assault against Mr Ryan, De Vesci Terrace, Monkstown, Co Dublin. Mr Ryan is denying the claims band it is submitted that if he did the acts complained of, there was provocation.
She claims she was kicked and punched and had her nose broken by Mr Ryan at a party at Blackhall Stud, Co Kildare, when she found him on the bed with another woman on March 22nd. 1992.
On the second day of the trial, before Mr Justice Moriarty and a jury, Mr Garrett Cooney SC, for Mr Ryan, was cross examining Ms Rocca about her relationship with Mr Ryan. He put it to her that she had not been his fiancee for at least a year before the alleged incident. Ms Rocca said: "That's not true."
Mr Cooney asked if she was saying that because he was her fiance, she was entitled to track him down at the party. "I was not entitled to track him down, but as his fiancee I was entitled to be angry if I found him in bed with another woman," she said.
Mr Cooney said Mr Ryan denied he was her fiance. They met in September 1988 at a barn dance at his father's house. She said the relationship with Mr Ryan started in October/November 1988. She lived in Castleknock at the time and he lived in Clifden Manor in Bedfordshire, England. When Mr Ryan asked her to marry him, he was having a custody battle over his children.
Asked if they had fixed a date for the marriage, Ms Rocca said it was fixed for sometime after the custody battle. Mr Cooney: "There was no specific date?" Ms Rocca: "It was always like that with Cathal."
She agreed that at that time, the relationship had a very good foundation. She joined him in England in 1989.
Mr Cooney asked if when on holiday in Madeira, they had their first serious row. Mr Ryan's evidence would be that it was a disastrous holiday and they rowed constantly. Ms Rocca said she did not remember. She could not, say they did not have a row, but it was not a disaster. They had rows like any other couple.
She lived in England with Mr Ryan for a year. Mr Cooney said Mr Ryan would say the relationship was frequently stormy. Ms Rocca said she would not say stormy. They had difficulties.
Mr Cooney asked if she once physically attacked him and scraped his face.
Ms Rocca said there was an incident in self defence when he had been drinking and he had been violent at the door of the house. There was an argument about his sister in law and Mr Ryan became abusive and "he went for me".
"At that time I realised he was different in drink," she said. She said he was very drunk. She did put, scratches on his face, but in saying that, he was trying to drag her up the stairs. It was the first sign of violence.
She was wearing a red suit. He tried to drag her and ripped the suit off her. It was embarrassing, he made a big deal about wearing a plaster on his face the next day.
"There were many occasions like that."
Mr Cooney said that in evidence, Ms Rocca had said about the assault complained of that she was utterly shocked and surprised and had never witnessed anything like that before. Ms Rocca: "To that extent."
Mr Cooney asked why she had not mentioned the other occasions. Ms Rocca replied that she was trying to protect the father of her child from the other instances.
Mr Cooney put it to her that Mr Ryan was in bed at the time and she was angry as he would not rehearse a television script. Ms Rocca said that was not true.
There was an argument about his sister in law and it was the first time she ever saw him that mad and with a streak of violence.
When Mr Cooney asked her when she had become engaged to Van Morrison, Ms Rocca asked Mr Justice Moriarty if she had to answer the question. The judge replied that she did. He would permit a limited number of questions.
Ms Rocca said: "Yes, I am engaged to Van Morrison, the singer. I got engaged to him about March or April two years ago.
Mr Cooney asked how long she had been going out with Van Morrison before that. Ms Rocca said they were good friends in the beginning and it developed into a relationship.
Mr Nicholas Kearns SC, for Ms Rocca, objected to the line of questioning.
The judge said it was not open season for examination on all matters of Ms Rocca's private life, but Mr Cooney must be entitled to ask questions regarding how Ms Rocca coped with the aftermath of the alleged assault.
Mr Kearns said that now it was established she was engaged to Van Morrison, they should move away from it.
Mr Cooney said the questions were relevant. Ms Rocca was alleging she was still traumatised, but he would suggest she was leading a life inconsistent with trauma.
Ms Rocca had portrayed herself as a person struggling to look after her three children, including Claudia, her child with Mr Ryan. She was painting a picture that she and the children were abandoned by Mr Ryan.
Mr Ryan had to sit in the court and hear the tirade of evidence. He had to sit through four hours of personal abuse being heaped upon him. He (Mr Cooney) was entitled to put his case. It had all been one way traffic to date.
Mr Kearns said the defence had raised the matter of Claudia's care. The primary issue was one of assault. There was no suggestion made that provision was not made for Claudia by Mr Ryan.
Mr Cooney asked Ms Rocca how long she had known Van Morrison before they became engaged. She replied that she had known him about 1 1/2 or maybe two years before that. She, had been working for him doing interviews. She first met him she thought in November 1993.
When asked if they lived in adjacent houses in Clyde Road, Ballsbridge, Ms Rocca said she leased the mews next to him. Van Morrison had let her have the house.
She lived there with her three children. She also had a nanny paid for by Mr Ryan. He gave her £1,000 a month, which just about paid for the nanny as sometimes she stayed over. She did not live in. She said she did not think she had a problem with maintenance, she was there about an assault charge.
Mr Cooney asked who looked after Claudia when she was on tour in the US with Van Morrison. Ms Rocca said the nanny. She said Van Morrison did not tour. He would do two concerts. She would have brought Claudia to England but not to, America.
Mr Cooney asked how many times Ms Rocca was out of Ireland last year. She replied she could not say the exact amount, usually the maximum was for a couple of days at a time. Most times she travelled when she could bring her children with her or make sure her children were well minded.
She went to England a couple of times. Van Morrison had a home in Bath maybe 10 to 15 times, some in Europe.
"Even when I'm travelling, you can have trauma. Trauma is about emotions and how you feel inside," she said.
Mr Cooney asked if she knew that Mr Ryan had followed his commitments, paying VHI, school fees, to the letter. Ms Rocca said that she knew the school fees were paid as the school didn't sent her any bills. She did not know about the VHI.