{"id":648208,"date":"2026-10-08T04:44:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T04:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/648208\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T04:44:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T04:44:11","slug":"niamh-obrien-funeral-details-announced-as-tributes-paid-to-beautiful-irish-dancer-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/648208\/","title":{"rendered":"Niamh O\u2019Brien funeral details announced as tributes paid to \u2018beautiful Irish dancer\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tributes have been paid to Lord of the Dance lead performer, Niamh O\u2019Brien, following her death<\/a> earlier this week at the age of 52. <\/p>\n

The native of Kilbride, Co Meath, who was married to Irish dancing star Michael Flatley<\/a>, was \u201csurrounded by her loving family\u201d when she died on Monday.<\/p>\n

She will lie in repose at a funeral home in her native Co Meath on Friday with her requiem mass following on Saturday at Mount Merrion, Dublin. <\/p>\n

A death notice on Rip.ie reads she will lie in repose at Ryan\u2019s Funeral Home, Ashbourne, Co Meath on Friday from 4pm to 7pm. <\/p>\n

A funeral mass will take place on Saturday at 11am at the Church of St. Th\u00e9r\u00e8se, Mount Merrion in Dublin. The mass will be live streamed, followed by a private burial. <\/p>\n

She had a long-standing lung condition which deteriorated over the last 12 months. <\/p>\n

Niamh O\u2019Brien started Irish dancing as a young child. She went on to play the lead role of Saoirse in the Lord of the Dance. She also performed in Riverdance<\/a>, Celtic Tiger and Feet of Flames. <\/p>\n

A post on the official Riverdance Facebook page said she was part of their story from the very beginning at Eurovision<\/a> 1994. <\/p>\n

\u201cHer contribution to Riverdance and the Irish dance community will never be forgotten.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur heartfelt condolences, thoughts and prayers are with Michael, Michael St James, Monica, Tommy, Derval, Aoibheann, and all of the O\u2019Brien and Flatley families. May Niamh\u2019s beautiful soul rest in peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Irish Dancing magazine called her a \u201cbeautiful Irish dancer, performer, wife, mother and much-loved member of the Irish Dance community\u201d.<\/p>\n

It said she was leaving behind a legacy that \u201creaches far beyond the stage\u201d; \u201cWe remember Niamh and celebrate her life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Niamh O\u2019Brien reached huge heights in her chosen field and placed fourth in the world championships when she was just 17.<\/p>\n

She was remembered by the charity Breakthrough Cancer Research, which knew her through a \u201clong friendship\u201d with Flatley. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe joined Michael and their son, Michael St James, at many special occasions and events, and we will remember her with enormous warmth and affection.<\/p>\n

\u201cNiamh was a wonderfully kind and gracious person, and it was always a pleasure to spend time in her company. Above all, the love she had for Michael and Michael St James was so clear to anyone who knew them as a family.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur hearts go out to Michael and Michael St James as they face this devastating loss, and to Niamh\u2019s wider family and friends.<\/p>\n

\u201cNiamh will be very deeply missed by all of us who had the pleasure of knowing her.\u201d<\/p>\n

A death notice on Rip.ie<\/a> reads that Niamh O\u2019Brien died peacefully at the Beacon Hospital in Dublin on Monday. <\/p>\n

The notice states that she will be \u201chugely missed\u201d by her heartbroken husband Michael and son Michael St James, her parents Monica and Tommy, sisters Derval and Aoibheann, her nieces and nephews, extended family and friends from school, college and the dancing world. <\/p>\n

Funeral arrangements are to follow, it said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tributes have been paid to Lord of the Dance lead performer, Niamh O\u2019Brien, following her death earlier this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":648209,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[93,17948,61,60,2050,31207],"class_list":["post-648208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-eurovision","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-michael-flatley","tag-riverdance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=648208"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648208\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/648209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=648208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=648208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=648208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}