{"id":798401,"date":"2026-10-10T19:56:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-10T19:56:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/798401\/"},"modified":"2026-10-10T19:56:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-10T19:56:12","slug":"michael-flatley-pays-tribute-to-his-wife-niamh-obrien-at-funeral-mass-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/798401\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Flatley pays tribute to his wife Niamh O\u2019Brien at funeral Mass \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

An emotional Michael Flatley<\/a> said the pain caused by his late wife Niamh O\u2019Brien\u2019s long illness and death was the worst he had ever experienced.<\/p>\n

Flatley hesitated many times, his voice breaking during the funeral eulogy for a woman he described as the \u201clove of his life\u201d and \u201cmy dream girl\u201d. <\/p>\n

The funeral Mass for O\u2019Brien (52) took place at the Church of St Th\u00e9r\u00e8se in Mount Merrion<\/a> in Dublin<\/a> on Saturday. <\/p>\n

O\u2019Brien, originally from Kilbride, Co Meath<\/a>, danced with Flatley for many years before the couple got together in 2006. They married 20 years ago this month.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Michael Flatley thanks people for \u2018beautiful gestures of sympathy\u2019 after wife\u2019s deathOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cHow did we get here?\u201d Flatley asked the congregation at the start of his tribute to his wife. \u201cThey say God gives the heaviest burdens to those with the broadest shoulders, but I don\u2019t feel like that right now.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I woke up in the middle of the night and Niamhy wasn\u2019t next to me, I couldn\u2019t sleep thinking about what I was going to say. You can appreciate and understand that I can\u2019t remember a word of what I was about to say.\u201d <\/p>\n

Flatley told a packed congregation that he had experienced much physical pain as a boxer and as a dancer, but the emotional pain that he experienced in losing his wife \u201cwas like something I thought I would never feel in my life\u201d. <\/p>\n

His wife had been diagnosed 12 years ago with scleroderma, an autoimmune disease, and given two years to live at the time. <\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day of her life she fought it, the last two years were very difficult. I told her: \u2018Focus not on the storm, but focus on the hand of the Lord\u2019,\u201d said Flatley. <\/p>\n

The last year was \u201cparticularly difficult\u201d and the last three weeks \u201cwere torturous and unbearable for her because she could not breathe,\u201d he recalled. <\/p>\n

He thanked the O\u2019Briens for welcoming him into the family and for their \u201cremarkable devotion\u201d to his wife right until the end of her life. <\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t believe how lucky I was that she said yes to me. She wasn\u2019t just a lady, she was my dream girl, she was my everything,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe was the lady of the dance, she was the mother of my son. She was the most beautiful girl in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Niamh O\u2019Brien, Irish dancer and wife of Michael Flatley, dies aged 52Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Flatley recalled how he and O\u2019Brien had danced around the world together before becoming romantically involved with each other. <\/p>\n

She had told him before he went on stage at Madison Square Garden in New York that he had worked for it and was fulfilling his dreams. \u201cThat was before we became involved romantically.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MichaelMichael Flatley (centre) greets a mourner at the funeral of his wife Niamh O’Brien at the Church Of St Therese, Mount Merrion, near Dublin. Photograph: Mark Marlow\/PA Wire <\/p>\n

His life changed for the better after they married. \u201cShe was the calming force in my life in every day,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cEverything went better because of Niamh. She was the voice of calm always. I was so lucky and so blessed to marry her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe Niamh is standing right beside me at this moment. I love you Niamhy, dream girl, and I\u2019m looking forward to our next dance in heaven together.\u201d <\/p>\n

Flatley finished his eulogy with a tribute to his wife which he played on his flute. <\/p>\n

The couple\u2019s son, Michael St James, recalled the \u201cdeep love\u201d that his parents had for each other. \u201cThey fought so hard until the end. My mam would not complain in any capacity. My dad fought so hard to make sure that my mam had the best care she could get,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was the most wonderful person. She was the best mother anyone could ask for. She put everyone else first.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will always miss her but I know she is with us in spirit. She is always with me in the person that she raised me to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

The chief mourners, along with her husband and son, were Niamh O\u2019Brien\u2019s parents Monica and Tommy, her sisters Derval and Aoibheann, her niece Dempsey Rose and nephews Dillon, Lochlann and Lennon. <\/p>\n

Comdt Joe Lennon represented Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin<\/a>. The funeral Mass was followed by a private family burial.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An emotional Michael Flatley said the pain caused by his late wife Niamh O\u2019Brien\u2019s long illness and death…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":798402,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[7157,96,59,21246,262505,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-798401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-dublin","tag-entertainment","tag-gb","tag-michael-flatley","tag-mount-merrion","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/798401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=798401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/798401\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/798402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=798401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=798401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=798401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}