Michael Flatley pays heartbreaking tribute to wife Niamh O’Brien at her funeral

The Riverdance and Lord of The Dance star was joined by the couple's 19-year-old son, Michael St. James, and other family members as they said their final goodbyes at a church in Mount Merrion.

During an emotional eulogy, Michael said they had never experienced pain like this before.

Niamh passed away last week at the age of 52 at the Beacon Hospital after an illness.

Michael started his eulogy by saying: "How did we get here?" before he said that he felt empty on he inside and had brought his son to the front with him for strength and support.

"I felt a lot of pain in my life," he went on to say, "but this morning I have never felt pain like this in my life."

"I can’t believe that I was so lucky that Niamh said yes to me. She wasn’t just my lady, the lady she was, she was my dream girl, she was my everything, she was the lady of the dance, she was the love of my life, she was the mother of our son, she was highly intelligent and she was the most beautiful girl in the world, my dream girl, Niamhy," he said.

"We danced around the world for 20 years, and how well I remember her, she was always the dancer immediately on my left because she was the greater dancer we ever had because she was the most beautiful girl in the world."

He spoke about a time before they became a couple and said he reminiscing about a moment backstage at Madison Square Garden together.

"I felt a hand in mine, turned to see Niamh there, she said 'remember Michael this was always your dream’, I just wanted to say good luck. That was the person she was," she said.

"I remember I had a place in Barbados, we were there. She was stunning in her beautiful white dress and she was in the middle of telling me a story but I wasn’t listening, I couldn’t stop staring at her big eyes, perfect face, her warmth, she just exuded love.

"In the middle of a sentence I just said would you marry me Niamh, she stopped like a deer caught in the headlights.

"I got down on one knee and said, would you marry me Niamh, and she said yes, and my life was never the same again.

"She was the calming force in my life in every way. I was so lucky and so blessed to marry her, and the majority of people who saw us together agreed with that statement."

Flatley then went on to say: "The last three weeks were torturous and unbearable for her because she couldn’t breathe. Her sisters and her mother spent almost every single night at that hospital, what a family, absolutely incredible," he said.

"She’s gone to heaven but heaven is everywhere, heaven is around us all right here today, I believe Niamh is standing beside me right at this moment, I can feel her.

"I love you Niamhy, my dream girl, and I’m looking forward to our next dance in heaven together."