Michael Flatley pays tribute to his wife Niamh O’Brien at funeral Mass

An emotional Michael Flatley said the pain caused by his late wife Niamh O’Brien’s long illness and death was the worst he had ever experienced.Flatley hesitated many times, his voice breaking during the funeral eulogy for a woman he described as the “love of his life” and “my dream girl”. The funeral Mass for O’Brien (52) took place at the Church of St Thérèse in Mount Merrion in Dublin on Saturday. O’Brien, originally from Kilbride, Co Meath, danced with Flatley for many years before the couple got together in 2006. They married 20 years ago this month.READ MORE[ Michael Flatley thanks people for ‘beautiful gestures of sympathy’ after wife’s deathOpens in new window ]“How did we get here?” Flatley asked the congregation at the start of his tribute to his wife. “They say God gives the happiest burdens to those with the broadest shoulders, but I don’t feel like that right now.“As I woke up in the middle of the night and Niamhy wasn’t next to me, I couldn’t sleep thinking about what I was going to say. You can appreciate and understand that I can’t remember a word of what I was about to say.” 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 “was like something I thought I would never feel in my life”. His wife had been diagnosed 12 years ago with scleroderma, an autoimmune disease, and given two years to live at the time. “Every day of her life she fought it, the last two years were very difficult. I told her: ‘Focus not on the storm, but focus on the hand of the Lord’,” said Flatley. The last year was “particularly difficult” and the last three weeks “were torturous and unbearable for her because she could not breathe,” he recalled. He thanked the O’Briens for welcoming him into the family and for their “remarkable devotion” to his wife right until the end of her life. “I can’t believe how lucky I was that she said yes to me. She wasn’t just a lady, she was my dream girl, she was my everything,” he said. “She was the lady of the dance, she was the mother of my son. She was the most beautiful girl in the world.”[ Niamh O’Brien, Irish dancer and wife of Michael Flatley, dies aged 52Opens in new window ]Flatley recalled how he and O’Brien had danced around the world together before becoming romantically involved with each other. 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. “That was before we became involved romantically.”His life changed for the better after they married. “She was the calming force in my life in every day,” he said. “Everything went better because of Niamh. She was the voice of calm always. I was so lucky and so blessed to marry her.“I believe Niamh is standing right beside me at this moment. I love you Niamhy, dream girl, and I’m looking forward to our next dance in heaven together.” Flatley finished his eulogy with a tribute to his wife which he played on his flute. The couple’s son, Michael St James, recalled the “deep love” that his parents had for each other. “They 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,” he said.“She was the most wonderful person. She was the best mother anyone could ask for. She put everyone else first.“I 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.”The chief mourners, along with her husband and son, were Niamh O’Brien’s parents Monica and Tommy, her sisters Derval and Aoibheann, her niece Dempsey Rose and nephews Dillon, Lochlann and Lennon. Comdt Joe Lennon represented Taoiseach Micheál Martin. The funeral Mass was followed by a private family burial.