THROWING OPEN THE DOORS OF HIS OPULENT FAMILY HOME IN IRELAND MICHAEL FLATLEY REVEALS WHY HE IS READY TO HANG UP HIS DANCE 6 SHOES AFTER 20 YEARS IN THE SPOTLIGHT HELLO1338p006-019.indd 6 18/07/14 17:46 ‘People don’t realise how different my life is to what it’s like on stage. That’s why I seek this kind of peace and tranquillity. This is our real life’ Michael and his wife Niamh relax in the grounds of the 18th-century CastleHyde in the dance legend’s spiritual home of Ireland. Set in 150 acres, it’s the perfect family hideaway to bring up their seven-year-old son Michael St James (inset above left, with his parents). “People say, ‘Oh, it’s so big.’ I don’t see it like that,” says the 7 Riverdance star. “Yes it’s a large house, but it’s a home – a family home” HELLO1338p006-019.indd 7 18/07/14 17:47 ‘It was my dream to have an Irish home. As soon as I saw it, I could feel the little hairs going up on my neck’ t seems fitting that Lord of the IDance Michael Flatley should live in a stately home with a magni!cent 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 !rst 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 !rst thing I did… just to have it on record that I’d done it too.” Michael and his beautiful wife Niamh have invited !"##$% 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 V noteworthy are 18th-century Michael and Niamh stand in the impressive entrance hall to welcome HELLO! into their home. The country house is a haven of tranquillity away 8 from the hurly-burly of showbiz as Michael returns to the stage for his last shows as a dancer HELLO1338p006-019.indd 8 18/07/14 17:48 9 HELLO1338p006-019.indd 9 18/07/14 17:48 Stairway to the stars: CastleHyde boasts a famous 10 stone cantilever staircase, down which Michael Jackson and Fred Astaire have danced – and, of course, Michael too HELLO1338p006-019.indd 10 18/07/14 17:49 ‘Fatherhood has made me a better man. I’ve learned far more from my son than he has learned from me’ working !replaces, 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 !rst spotted CastleHyde – the ancestral home of the !rst 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 !ve feet of water in the basement because the river kept "ooding. It was a terrible mess. The pool inside was dilapidated and the front wall was falling V Labour of love: Michael has spent millions on CastleHyde to return the house to its former glory and away. It was in ruins,” he says. make it a family home. The giant restoration project means the original cornices and murals are intact in its many rooms, including the drawing room (below left) and entrance hall (below right) 11 HELLO1338p006-019.indd 11 18/07/14 17:51 A self-confessed romantic, Michael likes to dress up when he and Niamh have dinner in the magnificent dining room with its ceiling mural (left) and make it a special occasion. “We always have a dance before dinner,” he says Costing him €4million to buy and an estimated One of Michael’s favourite rooms is the three- ten times that to restore to its former glory, storey library with its painted ceiling mural and keeping its original architecture intact, CastleHyde American walnut shelves, on which stand more is said to be one of the greatest restoration projects than 3,000 volumes, many of them masterpieces Ireland has ever seen. signed by Irish literary giants Oscar Wilde, WB “People say to me, ‘Oh, it’s so big.’ I don’t see it Yeats and Sean O’Casey, and a copy of Ulysses like that. Yes it’s a large house, but it’s a home. A signed by its author, James Joyce. Michael is also family home. My wife and I will often go to the bar the proud owner of Joyce’s trademark gold- and have a glass of champagne. I’ll play music in rimmed spectacles and his prized cigarette case. the music room with my son, who plays the bodhrán “I love to come in here with a glass of red wine [Irish drum], just fooling around on it, so we often in the evening for a read. There is such lovely 12 do that. He does his homework in the drawing energy from these old books. room and we often have dinner in the formal “My wife has to stop me. Especially after a dining room. We make use of the whole house.” couple of martinis. She’ll say, ‘You’re not going for HELLO1338p006-019.indd 12 18/07/14 17:51 ‘If there is ever a time to get dressed up, it’s for your wife’ 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.