Michael Flatley is mourning his wife, the Irish dancer Niamh O’Brien, who died in Dublin on 5 October at the age of 52. According to a spokesperson, she died at the Beacon Hospital after a long illness. No specific cause of death has been made public.
Flatley, 68, announced her death on 6 October with a message on social media. He described her as his beautiful bride of twenty years and wrote that she had been the most loving mother, wife and person, adding that his heart was broken and that he had lost not only his wife but his best friend. He shared several personal photographs alongside the tribute, including a picture of O’Brien dancing, a wedding photograph and an image of her with their son.
Dance was at the centre of their life together. Both performed professionally and shared a long devotion to Irish dance, and O’Brien appeared with Flatley in Lord of the Dance, the show he created in 1996 and which made him a household name around the world. The two had been inseparable for more than twenty years, and their son, Michael St. James, was born in 2007 and is now 19.
In his message Flatley thanked the many people who have followed him and his family over the years for their sympathy. He asked them to keep Niamh, Michael St. James and the rest of the family in their thoughts and prayers during what he called a very difficult time.
O’Brien’s death comes two decades after the couple married, and twenty years in which dance remained the thread running through both their working and family lives. Flatley’s tribute, shared with photographs of her on stage, at their wedding and with their son, made clear how central she was to both.
