Michael Flatley’s ‘very special’ plans for emotional 20th wedding anniversary as wife Niamh dies days before vow renewal
MICHAEL Flatley’s “very special” plans for his 20th wedding anniversary with his wife Niamh have been revealed.
It was announced yesterday evening that Niamh passed peacefully at the Beacon Hospital in Dublin “following a period of illness”.
Sharing the tragic news on social media, Flatley, 68, said: “My heart is broken. I have lost my beautiful wife, Niamh, and my best friend.
“My gorgeous bride of twenty years has gone to the Lord in heaven. She was the most loving mother, wife and person, and our lives will never be the same without her.
“Thank you for all the love and kindness you have shown us. Please keep Niamh, Michael St James, and our family in your thoughts and prayers.”
Michael and Niamh were due to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary this month.
The celebrity choreographer, who was 47 at the time, and Niamh, who was 32, announced their engagement in August of 2006, just months after the star split from model Lisa Murphy.
The loved up couple tied the knot on October 14 that same year in a ceremony at St Patrick’s Church in Fermoy, Co Cork.
Earlier this year in January, Michael spoke about the huge milestone and revealed how he planned on marking the occasion.
Flatley told RSVP Magazine: “On our 10th anniversary we renewed our vows in Westminster Cathedral, because at the time my son was going to Westminster Cathedral Choir School.
“I have something very special planned for the 20th to renew our vows. I shouldn’t have just said that, my wife is going to know all about this!
“But I won’t say what it is and I won’t tell her. I’m the luckiest guy in the world.”
When asked how to keep the love alive after two decades, the Riverdance star said: “Marry the right person.
“I’m very blessed, I’m in love with my wife, who’s in love with me. We have a wonderful son. I don’t remember us ever having a bad word.
“Niamh was one of my best friends, a real rock of support to me and I think there had always been chemistry between us.”
The couple welcomed their first and only child Michael St James together after just a year after their wedding.
Niamh suffered from ill health in recent years.
Despite this, Michael spoke last year over how his wife had also been an immense support to him while he faced surgery for cancer.
He said: “I was haemorrhaging and convulsing on a hospital bed and I kept passing out.
“But I will never forget opening my eyes one of the times that I came to, and my wife was there. And my wife was smiling.
“Can you imagine the courage from my wife, to put on a smile in that position? The courage that took?”
Riverdance icon Flatley was diagnosed with an “aggressive form of cancer” in January 2023 and underwent surgery.
He previously fought off cancer in the early 2000s when he was treated for melanoma.
