Riverdance and Lord Of The Dance star Michael Flatley has described “never feeling pain like it” as he bid farewell to his “dream girl” wife Niamh O’Brien.
Flatley had the couple’s son Michael St James at his side as he tearfully paid tribute to their “lady of the dance”. Ms O’Brien, 52, died peacefully at the Beacon Hospital in Dublin last week after an illness.
Mourners from across the world
Mourners from across the world turned out to attend her funeral at Church Of St Thérèse, Mount Merrion on Saturday. They included former Riverdance lead dancer Padraic Moyles and actor Patrick Connolly Bergin.
Ms O’Brien performed the lead role of Saoirse in the Lord of the Dance shows alongside Flatley.
A tearful eulogy
Flatley was tearful as he described the last three weeks as “unbearable” for her as her health worsened, and played her favourite tune on his flute, telling mourners that he looked forward to their next dance together in heaven.
He started his eulogy in tears saying: “How did we get here?” adding that his legs felt hollow, that he felt empty on the inside, and had brought their son to the front of the church with him for strength.
“I felt a lot of pain in my life,” he told mourners, referencing his past as a boxer and during his dance career. “But this morning I have never felt pain like this in my life.”
Remembering his 'dream girl'
He referenced a quote from Irish playwright Samuel Beckett – “Where I am, I don’t know, I’ll never know, in the silence you don’t know, you must go on, I can’t go on, I’ll go on.”
“I can’t believe that I was so lucky that Niamh said yes to me. She wasn’t just my lady, the lady she was, she was my dream girl, she was my everything, she was the lady of the dance, she was the love of my life, she was the mother of our son, she was highly intelligent and she was the most beautiful girl in the world, my dream girl, Niamhy,” he said.
“We danced around the world for 20 years, and how well I remember her, she was always the dancer immediately on my left because she was the greater dancer we ever had because she was the most beautiful girl in the world.”
He recalled before they became a couple, standing backstage at Madison Square Gardens waiting to go on stage. “I felt a hand in mine, turned to see Niamh there, she said ‘remember Michael this was always your dream’, I just wanted to say good luck. That was the person she was,” she said.
“I remember I had a place in Barbados, we were there. She was stunning in her beautiful white dress and she was in the middle of telling me a story but I wasn’t listening, I couldn’t stop staring at her big eyes, perfect face, her warmth, she just exuded love.
“In the middle of a sentence I just said would you marry me Niamh, she stopped like a deer caught in the headlights. I got down on one knee and said, would you marry me Niamh, and she said yes, and my life was never the same again.
“She was the calming force in my life in every way. I was so lucky and so blessed to marry her, and the majority of people who saw us together agreed with that statement.”
Flatley said the last year had been “particularly difficult” but that she would reprimand him not to say anything that would upset her parents, because she did not want them to worry.
“The last three weeks were torturous and unbearable for her because she couldn’t breathe. Her sisters and her mother spent almost every single night at that hospital, what a family, absolutely incredible,” he said.
“She’s gone to heaven but heaven is everywhere, heaven is around us all right here today, I believe Niamh is standing beside me right at this moment, I can feel her. I love you Niamhy, my dream girl, and I’m looking forward to our next dance in heaven together.”
A life in dance
Earlier, a priest described Ms O’Brien as a “human of great faith, selfless in care for others and a spirit believed in doing what was right”. He said she was an outstanding ambassador and champion for Irish dance across the world. “Niamh loved the lord of the dance in heaven and the lord of the dance on earth too,” he said.
Flatley, who was born into a blue-collar Irish-American family in Chicago, rose to fame when Riverdance was performed during a seven-minute interval at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994. A year later, he had a full-length show in Dublin and followed this up with his own stage show, Lord Of The Dance.
He has also created, produced and directed other productions including Feet Of Flames and Celtic Tiger before expanding into film, directing and starring in the 2018 spy thriller Blackbird. In the film, which also stars Eric Roberts, Patrick Bergin and Ian Beattie, Flatley plays former MI6 operative Victor Blackley, who is drawn back into the world of espionage he had left behind.
