Niamh O’Brien funeral details announced as tributes paid to ‘beautiful Irish dancer’

Tributes have been paid to Lord of the Dance lead performer, Niamh O’Brien, following her death earlier this week at the age of 52. The native of Kilbride, Co Meath, who was married to Irish dancing star Michael Flatley, was “surrounded by her loving family” when she died on Monday.She will lie in repose at a funeral home in her native Co Meath on Friday with her requiem mass following on Saturday at Mount Merrion, Dublin. A death notice on Rip.ie reads she will lie in repose at Ryan’s Funeral Home, Ashbourne, Co Meath on Friday from 4pm to 7pm. READ MOREA funeral mass will take place on Saturday at 11am at the Church of St. Thérèse, Mount Merrion in Dublin. The mass will be live streamed, followed by a private burial. She had a long-standing lung condition which deteriorated over the last 12 months. Niamh O’Brien started Irish dancing as a young child. She went on to play the lead role of Saoirse in the Lord of the Dance. She also performed in Riverdance, Celtic Tiger and Feet of Flames. A post on the official Riverdance Facebook page said she was part of their story from the very beginning at Eurovision 1994. “Her contribution to Riverdance and the Irish dance community will never be forgotten.“Our heartfelt condolences, thoughts and prayers are with Michael, Michael St James, Monica, Tommy, Derval, Aoibheann, and all of the O’Brien and Flatley families. May Niamh’s beautiful soul rest in peace.”Irish Dancing magazine called her a “beautiful Irish dancer, performer, wife, mother and much-loved member of the Irish Dance community”.It said she was leaving behind a legacy that “reaches far beyond the stage”; “We remember Niamh and celebrate her life.”Niamh O’Brien reached huge heights in her chosen field and placed fourth in the world championships when she was just 17.She was remembered by the charity Breakthrough Cancer Research, which knew her through a “long friendship” with Flatley. “She joined Michael and their son, Michael St James, at many special occasions and events, and we will remember her with enormous warmth and affection.“Niamh was a wonderfully kind and gracious person, and it was always a pleasure to spend time in her company. Above all, the love she had for Michael and Michael St James was so clear to anyone who knew them as a family.“Our hearts go out to Michael and Michael St James as they face this devastating loss, and to Niamh’s wider family and friends.“Niamh will be very deeply missed by all of us who had the pleasure of knowing her.”A death notice on Rip.ie reads that Niamh O’Brien died peacefully at the Beacon Hospital in Dublin on Monday. The notice states that she will be “hugely missed” by her heartbroken husband Michael and son Michael St James, her parents Monica and Tommy, sisters Derval and Aoibheann, her nieces and nephews, extended family and friends from school, college and the dancing world. Funeral arrangements are to follow, it said.