By Cate McCurry, PA
Slane Castle looks set to bring live music back with a bang with a double summer concert in 2022.
Castle owner, Lord Henry Mountcharles, is also considering a live-streamed gig later this year to celebrate 40 years of rock at the famous Co Meath venue.
As the pandemic has left the entertainment industry singing the blues since March 2020, Lord Mountcharles said: “This year is dead for a live show, I was holding out hope that something could happen, but it looks nigh on impossible.
“We are looking at a show, and very possibly two, next year.
“I see it returning in the summer of 2022 and I want to come back with a big show.”
Lord Henry, 69, was speaking ahead of a major auction in Kells, Co Meath, next week, co-ordinated by antiques dealer Niall Mullen and which includes antique flags from Beauparc House, his main residence, located close to the castle.
The Slane peer, who has bounced back from a gruelling cancer battle and celebrates his 70th birthday next month, says he is eager to see a return to live music at his 80,000-capacity venue by the River Boyne.
The last double gig at the castle in the same year saw Bon Jovi and Eminem headline two months apart in 2013.
U2 brought their Elevation tour to the grounds twice in 2001, two decades after supporting Thin Lizzy at the inaugural gig in 1981.
US rockers Metallica were the last to play in 2019.
“We will come back next year with a big one and I am certainly looking at the possibility of two separate acts,” said Lord Henry.
“I’m always very selective and careful about Slane, not everyone gets to play here.
“There are world class acts out there and a wealth of Irish talent too, which I am keeping my eye on.”
Later this year, he is considering a live-streamed, behind-closed-doors concert from the castle to mark the 40th anniversary of the first gig.
Meanwhile, a little piece of Slane history is included in the Easter Interiors And Historical Sale in Kells next Tuesday and Wednesday.
The flags and banners, originally from Beauparc House and which sold at a previous auction in 1985, include a large, red Welcome Home banner, a Union flag and a Commodore’s flag from Royal St George Yacht Club in Dublin’s Dun Laoghaire, dating back to 1847.
“I don’t think they’ve been in Slane Castle in my lifetime,” he said.
“But the connection to the flags came from the second Marquess Conyngham, Francis Nathaniel Conyngham, who was Commodore of the Royal St George Yacht Club in Dublin.”
The Commodore’s flag has a guide price of 1,000 to 2,000 euro with the banner and Union flag each expected to sell for 200 to 400 euro.
The auction will be streamed live on victormeeauctions.ie
