'I've never felt pain like this': Michael Flatley bids farewell to his wife, his 'dream girl' and 'lady of the dance'

From the Newshound archive · first published 10 October 2026 · last updated 11 October 2026.

Michael Flatley, 68, broke down delivering the eulogy at Niamh O'Brien's funeral Mass at the Church of St Thérèse, Mount Merrion, Dublin on Saturday, telling a packed congregation he had survived boxing injuries and the death of his parents but nothing compared to losing his wife of 20 years. Niamh, 52, had battled scleroderma — an autoimmune disease — for 12 years after being given just two years to live at diagnosis, with her final three weeks described by Flatley as "torturous and unbearable" because she could not breathe.

Flatley brought son Michael St James, 19, to stand with him at the altar, saying: 'I brought my son for strength — he is my strength.'

Niamh danced alongside Flatley in the original Riverdance in 1993 and took the lead role of Saoirse in Lord of the Dance; he called her 'the greater dancer' on his left.

Flatley played her favourite tune on his flute and told mourners he looked forward to their 'next dance together in heaven'.

The TimesMichael Flatley bids farewell at funeral of his wife, Niamh O’Brien Evening StandardFlatley ‘never felt pain like this’ at funeral for his ‘lady of the dance’Irish Times‘She was my dream girl’: Michael Flatley pays tribute to his wife Niamh O’Brien at funeral Mass Irish TimesMichael Flatley thanks people for ‘beautiful gestures of sympathy’ after wife’s death Irish Independent‘I asked her to marry me and she stopped like a deer caught in the headlights’ — Michael Flatley’s tearful eulogy at wife’s funeral

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