Flatley’s mansion not for let, say agents

A LUXURY property agency has denied reports that Michael Flatley’s lavish mansion in Cork is available for short-term letting in spite of the fact that a listing appeared on their website only to be taken down yesterday morning.

Irish dance superstar Flatley, 51, bought Castlehyde House, which sits on the banks of the River Blackwater in Fermoy, for £3 million in 1999. It is the ancestral home of the first President, Douglas Hyde, and is regarded as one of the finest examples of Georgian architecture in the south-west.

Mr Flatley has spent in excess of €40m since on the restoration works. The house has 14 bedrooms, a 20-seat private cinema, a spa, two climate-controlled wine cellars, and a three-storey library.

Flatley has other properties around the world: in London; Villefranche-sur-Mer, in the south of France; Barbados; and Chicago.

The Castlehyde property was listed on the Adams and Butler website for short-term lets, but by 9am yesterday it had disappeared from the web page. It is not known how long the listing was on the site.

A spokeswoman for the company said they were not assisting Mr Flatley in the rental of Castlehyde and that the to-let information pre-dated the American superstar’s purchase of the Cork property.

Mr Flatley tied the knot with Niamh O’Brien in Fermoy in October 2006. The ceremony was held at St Patrick’s Church, 2 miles from Flatley’s Castlehyde home.

Earlier this year the Lord of the Dance creator announced plans to reprise his role in the show for the first time in 12 years and called it a “victory lap”.

Flatley will be joined by a 40-strong cast, some of whom performed with the show when it debuted. He recently completed a successful tour of Taiwan with his show Feet of Flames.