One of the most incredible homes I've ever been invited into is Castlehyde, the stunning 18th century stately home in Cork set in 150 acres of pasture and woodland owned by Lord of the Dance Michael Flatley. I spent the day there with the word's highest-paid dancer and his wife Niamh as they took me around the house with it's 20-seat cinema, three-storey library with 3000 books, and two climate-controlled wine cellars as well as countless reception rooms full of antiques, crystal chandeliers and paintings.
It seems fitting that Lord of the Dance Michael Flatley should live in a stately home with a magnificent staircase, down which both Fred Astaire and Michael Jackson have tripped the light fantastic.
When the Irish-American dance superstar bought CastleHyde, a majestic four-storey mansion in Co. Cork, he was delighted to learn that the fabled Hollywood dancer and his sister Adele were regular house- guests in the 1930s.
“When I mentioned to Michael [Jackson] that Fred Astaire used to come here for parties and dance down the staircase, the first thing he wanted to do was dance down it, too,” says Michael, who over the years has hosted legendary parties for his showbusiness friends from around the world.
“So I don’t have to tell you that as soon as he got in the car to go home, that’s the first thing I did... just to have it on record that I’d done it too.”
Michael and his beautiful wife Niamh have invited HELLO! to spend the day at the lovingly restored 18th-century house, set in 150 acres of pastures and woodland and basking on the banks of the Blackwater river. And to talk about the contrast of their quiet life here as a family with seven-year-old son Michael St James compared with the razzmatazz of Michael’s extraordinary career, as well as his plans for retirement.
As he opens the front door, it’s hard not to be dazzled by the giant chandelier glinting in the airy entrance hall over impressive period furniture and a grand piano.
As well as the famous stone cantilever staircase, the house boasts numerous reception rooms, packed with paintings, antiques and collectables. Especially noteworthy are 18th-century working fireplaces, regarded as priceless. There’s a music room with a Steinway grand piano and a collection of rare flutes (Michael is an accomplished flautist), a full-sized bar where guests can enjoy a Guinness, a fabulous drawing room housing a beautiful chess set, a formal dining room, two climate-controlled wine cellars with a rare collection of French and Italian vintages, and a 20-seat private cinema.
“People don’t understand,” says Michael. “They don’t realise how different my life is to what it’s like on stage. That’s why I suppose I seek this kind of peace and tranquillity. This is our real life.”
Lining the walls of the corridor that links all the rooms – itself the length of an American football pitch – are reminders of the remarkable success story that saw Michael become the world’s highest-paid dancer, with legs insured for $40million (£23million). There are numerous awards for the Lord of the Dance show he first staged in 1996 and follow-up extravaganzas Celtic Tiger and Feet of Flames; lifetime achievement medals and trophies galore; prize belts for one of his other passions, boxing; and a glass cabinet of dancing shoes, including the pair he wore when he burst onto the scene at the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest in Ireland with that electrifying Riverdance performance.
HYDE AND SEEK
Michael first spotted CastleHyde – the ancestral home of the first president of Ireland, Douglas Hyde – 15 years ago when he was house-hunting by helicopter over an area dubbed the Golden Vale, in the Blackwater valley.
“I had a different home in London at the time, Lillie Langtry’s beautiful home on the canal in Little Venice,” says the star, who also owns houses in Barbados and on the French Riviera. “But it was my dream to have an Irish home. And as soon as I saw it, I could feel the little hairs going up on my neck. I’d never seen anything like it and fell in love with the house. I said, ‘Land the chopper,’ and was told, ‘Mr Flatley, you can’t go round landing your helicopter in people’s front gardens.’”
But Michael got his way and the rest is history.
“It was really derelict at the time with five feet of water in the basement because the river kept flooding. It was a terrible mess. The pool inside was dilapidated and the front wall was falling away. It was in ruins,” he says.
Costing him €4million to buy and an estimated ten times that to restore to its former glory, keeping its original architecture intact, CastleHyde is said to be one of the greatest restoration projects Ireland has ever seen.
“People say to me, ‘Oh, it’s so big.’ I don’t see it like that. Yes it’s a large house, but it’s a home. A family home. My wife and I will often go to the bar and have a glass of champagne. I’ll play music in the music room with my son, who plays the bodhrán [Irish drum], just fooling around on it, so we often do that. He does his homework in the drawing room and we often have dinner in the formal dining room. We make use of the whole house.”
One of Michael’s favourite rooms is the three- storey library with its painted ceiling mural and American walnut shelves, on which stand more than 3,000 volumes, many of them masterpieces signed by Irish literary giants Oscar Wilde, WB Yeats and Sean O’Casey, and a copy of Ulysses signed by its author, James Joyce. Michael is also the proud owner of Joyce’s trademark gold- rimmed spectacles and his prized cigarette case.
“I love to come in here with a glass of red wine in the evening for a read. There is such lovely energy from these old books.
“My wife has to stop me. Especially after a couple of martinis. She’ll say, ‘You’re not going for that James Joyce book again are you? You’ve read it 400 times.’”
He can barely take his eyes off Niamh, his wife of eight years, as she walks into the formal dining room, wearing the most stunning out t. A self-confessed romantic, he looks forward to their Friday nights together and they dress for the occasion.
“Niamh and I will have dinner in the formal dining room every Friday night when we are in residence in CastleHyde. I will wear a suit and tie or a tuxedo. We really dress up. I don’t understand people who say they can’t wait to get home and throw on sweats. I married my wife because she is the most important person in the world. If there is ever a time to get dressed up, it’s for your wife.
“I get out some gin and take my time preparing the perfect martini and listen to some Frank Sinatra and wait for her to come downstairs. Our song is Mack the Knife by Louis Armstrong, so we always have a dance before dinner. I’m so lucky to have my wife. We are in love and life couldn’t be better.”
They first met when Niamh was a young Irish dancer – she performed behind Michael during the Eurovision interval 20 years ago.
It was to be many years later before he asked her out after she turned up looking ravishing in a red dress at one of his Christmas parties. But three months later he proposed and in 2006 they were married. Their son Michael St James was born a year later.
“My wife is one of the smartest people I know. So sincere, so loyal and decent and all the right qualities,” he says as she goes upstairs to change. Waiting for her outside, Michael points out the ruins of the 14th-century castle Carrigneedy (Rock of the Shield), which provide a backdrop to the house. “It’s a Norman castle, which was shot down by Cromwell,” he says as we walk along the banks of the river.
As well as a walled rose garden, a meadow of wild owers provides a favourite family spot on a warm summer’s evening. And as he holds hands with his wife and son, they follow the path, with Michael singing the Wizard of Oz song Follow the Yellow Brick Road. Michael St James laughs, challenging his daddy to a race. It’s clear how much Michael enjoys fatherhood.
“I think it’s made me a better man. It’s been very grounding. I have learned much more from my son than he has learned from me. He is very bright. He takes after his mummy.”
So is his son showing any signs of following in his father’s extraordinary dance steps?
“He dances. He imitates me, flying around the house with his arms, which is beautiful. He does everything from Michael Jackson to break dancing. He is non-stop. He is a very enthusiastic young boy. Mad into Formula 1, Ferraris and [Irish rugby union team] Munster Rugby. He loves that. And of course he might be the world Lego builder of all time.”
But he hastens to add that he hasn’t tried to pass on the skills that he himself learned as an 11 year-old growing up in Chicago with his hard- working Irish immigrant parents.
“No, I don’t want to push anything on him. He will find his own level there. I will support my son in anything he has a passion for.”
THE LAST DANCE
Michael will have a lot more time to do that once he has retired, which he plans to do after a tour that kicks off at the London Palladium in September, followed by 200-plus dates in 15 countries over the next 18 months.
Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games is a reworking of the acclaimed 1996 show, with revamped staging and costumes and exciting new visuals. Directed by Michael, with a score by composer Gerard Fahy, it features James Keegan, Morgan Comer and Matthew Smith as the Lords of the Dance, while former Girls Aloud star Nadine Coyle performs the title song.
As usual, Michael will be keeping an empty seat at every performance as a tribute to his grandmother Hannah Ryan, who was a champion Irish dancer and his inspiration. He also hopes to fly over from Chicago his 87-year-old father Michael, who, he says, taught him the value of discipline, hard work and determination.
“I’m absolutely buzzing about it. London’s West End has such a special feeling for me,” says Michael, who once performed at the Oscars to an estimated TV audience of 2 billion.
He says he is as healthy as he could expect to be following a mystery illness that stopped him dancing in 2006.
“It’s almost unbelievable that at my age I am performing in a place like the London Palladium and have my father and son there. It’s beyond my wildest dreams. I’m back on track at the moment. I am working hard, my body is in great shape and I am dancing really well.
“I had to think how to design the show in such a way that I could maybe do one or two of the last numbers at the very end... for as long as my legs hold out.”
Although he has come out of retirement before, there is no doubt in his mind that this will be the last time he performs on stage.
“Oh, yeah. My old legs can’t take any more. The beating I have taken over the years. It takes me a couple of minutes every morning to straighten my back. Very few Irish dancers in our show have ever made it to 30. And I didn’t do Eurovision until I was 35.
“My focus now is to give new young stars their chance. To prepare them and put them into a position where they are going on to be the new Lords of the Dance. They’re going to be the stars of tomorrow. That’s what I want now. I am just coming on at the end for a couple of guest numbers. If this was a football match, this would be way, way into injury time now.
“So I don’t think of myself as bowing out. It’s not a big deal. It’s just about enjoying those few last shows with the greatest dance team in the world, and moulding them for their success. They are following their dream. These young people believe in me and they are going out to focus their minds and lives to do one thing. So it’s my joy and honour to help them achieve that goal. That’s my happiness now.”
That and spending time at CastleHyde.
“Every morning I look out of the window and say, ‘Thank you, God for what I have.’ Every single morning. My hope going forward is to spend more time with my beautiful wife and son and give them the quality time they deserve.”
He’ll also take time out to concentrate on painting, which he does without brushes, instead dancing the paint into huge floor canvasses to form abstract pictures. He is already planning an exhibition in London.
“I’ll always be doing something. Always be involved. I know I am launching Dangerous Games, but I’ve already got another show, finished, in my head.”