Michael Flatley built his reputation with big-budget blockbuster productions.
And now that includes the estimated bill to repair alleged damage to his Irish mansion: €30m (£25.6m).
The former Riverdance star says that is the cost to remove alleged toxic residue from Castlehyde, his 18th-century estate near Fermoy in County Cork.
He is suing a contractor, an insurer, a broker and a managing agency over the condition of the property, which he vacated last year on health grounds.
The claim includes €1.1m for health and safety protective work, €2.2m for bespoke plastering, €2.5m for painting and decor, €3.9 for woodwork and €9.8m for demolition. The alleged contamination affects the property’s pool, spa and cinema and is said to require replacing walls, floors, and ceilings.
Flatley, 65, launched the high court case last year, seeking €25m, and this week increased that to €30m, citing a surveyor’s report.
He claims a 2016 fire at the estate left unsafe levels of chloride residue due to PVC combustion and that the alleged main renovation contractor, Austin Newport Group Ltd, failed to address the issue. Austin denies the claims.
Flatley is also suing David Cushion, who was allegedly his broker, the insurers Castlehyde Am Amlin Underwriting Ltd, AXA XL Underwriting Ltd, and Hamilton Managing Agency Ltd.
All of the allegations are denied. Neil Steen, a lawyer for Cushion, said his client could not understand why he had been drawn into the case and was “adamant” he had no responsibility for the alleged issues. Steen said he would seek to have the case dismissed for failing to disclose a cause of action.
Flatley bought the property, which dates from 1790, in 1999 when his show Lord of the Dance, an Irish dancing extravaganza, had made him one of the world’s highest paid performers.
The Irish-American said he spent €29m renovating it into one of Ireland’s finest period homes, replete with a Portland stone staircase, gold-leaf ceilings, mahogany walls and walnut bookshelves with precious first editions. A display case exhibited his dancing shoes and the music room hosted Cliff Richard, The Chieftains and other performers.
“Living here, it’s a blessing from God,” he told the Irish Times in 2015 when he put the property on the market for €20m. “I had nearly 20 of the best years of my life here. There is no money in the world that could possibly pay for that.” He ended up keeping the estate.
In a court statement Flatley said he, his wife, Niamh, and their son Michael St James had suffered ill health since the remediation works. “I believe I was one of the fittest people in Ireland, and despite the same, I developed cancer,” he said.
The Flatleys left the mansion last October after routine maintenance detected allegedly high and unsafe levels of chloride residue, the court heard.
Flatley announced in January 2023 that he had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer.
In recent years he has focused on screen work. Blackbird, a spy thriller he wrote, produced, financed, directed and starred in, was released in 2022. Critics called it a vanity project.
In June Flatley announced plans for a six-part TV biopic titled Dancelord that promised to show the “epic sweep” of a life that evoked the fictional boxer Rocky Balboa and reached “a plane beyond mere rock stardom”.
