Michael Flatley honored with Home to Mayo award in celebration of Irish heritage

Michael Flatley was honored by Mayo County Council to mark the anniversary of the Mayo 5000 celebrations, which helped kickstart Riverdance over 30 years ago.

Flatley received a special Home to Mayo Award on Monday as part of the council's annual month-long campaign to promote the county.

It comes 31 years after the Mayo 5000 concert, which took place at the National Concert Hall in Dublin . The show was produced by Moya Doherty and John McColgan and featured a new work by composer Bill Whelan ; the same team that went on to create Riverdance.

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Prominent Irish dancers were asked to perform on the night including two Irish American World Champions: Jean Butler and Michael Flatley.

Having caught the attention of then President Mary Robinson, they were both invited to work on the intermission show for the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest the following year. The rest, as they say, is history.

Flatley's father was from Co Sligo and he has always had what he calls a "huge personal affinity" to the west of Ireland.

According to the South Mayo Family Research Society, Flatley's paternal great-grandparents, Pat and Mary Flatley, hailed from the small parish of Kilmovee in Co Mayo .

Their son Thomas was born there and later married Mary Ann Henry, Flatley's grandmother, in Co Sligo, local genealogists say.

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Flatley hasn't publicly commented on his Mayo roots but he's visited and performed in the county numerous times. He's very proud of his father's ties to Connacht.

"My father was my hero. This big strong Sligo man. My mother was from Co Carlow ," he said in a recent interview. "My parents moved to the States in 1947 with nothing. They never took a penny from the US government.

"They gave up their whole lives for us and for the things that I dreamed to do in my life."

Flatley signed a bottle of his new Flatley Irish Whiskey , which was inspired by his father , to support an upcoming Home to Mayo raffle.

A spokesperson for Mayo County Council said: "Mayo County Council were delighted to present Michael Flatley with a special Home to Mayo Award to mark the 31 ^st Anniversary of The Mayo 5000 celebrations, which started his incredible worldwide success."

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