News
October 06, 2026
by Irish Echo Staff
Niamh O’Brien, wife of Irish dance star Michael Flatley and a top dancer in her own right, has died aged 52.
O’Brien passed away peacefully at the Beacon Hospital in Dublin, “following a period of illness,” a representative said.
The Irish Times reported that O’Brien suffered from a long-standing lung condition which deteriorated in the last year. She was due to fly to the United States to receive a lung transplant but died before it could be carried out.
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Michael Flatley said in a statement: “My heart is broken. I have lost my beautiful wife, Niamh, and my best friend. My gorgeous bride of 20 years has gone to the Lord in Heaven.”
This photo of the couple was taken in New York in 2015 by Nuala Purcell.
