- Opinion
- 21 Jul 25
Remembering Lord Henry Mount Charles: "A real pioneering figure in Irish music"
Hot Press was deeply saddened by the death last month of Lord Henry Mount Charles, the man who put Slane Castle on the rock ‘n’ roll map during the 1980s when he brought Thin Lizzy to the banks of the Boyne. It’s a trick he repeated on numerous occasions, as we recall in this tribute to Henry who gifted this country some truly magical days out...
“Oh, people thought we were mad! I remember saying to Denis Desmond, ‘I want Slane to be to music fans what the All-Ireland Final is to the GAA and the Irish Derby is to the equine world’. There were to be no half-measures. The infrastructure needed to stage a show of Slane’s magnitude had never been put together before in Ireland. Because we’re way out in the country and can’t put on multiple nights like Croke Park or the Aviva, it’s a relatively expensive and difficult gig to put on. On top of the logistics and the costs, ’81 was the year of the IRA Hunger Strikes and accordingly huge unrest on both sides of the border.
“There we were, right next to the River Boyne with all of its massive, complicated historical significance. With all that happening, were people going to travel up, down and across to this tiny speck on the map to see a gig? Happily, for us, the answer was a big ‘yes!’”
That was Lord Henry Mount Charles talking to Hot Press a few years ago about the ‘build it and they will come’ philosophy that turned Slane Castle into a field of rock ‘n’ roll dreams on August 16, 1981 when headliners Thin Lizzy, U2, Hazel O’Connor, Rose Tattoo, Mama’s Boys, Sweet Savage and The Bureau played the first outdoor concert there.
Since then, Slane has hosted a who’s who of international rock and pop A-Listers with The Rolling Stones, U2, Bruce Springsteen, Queen, Guns ‘N’ Roses, Neil Young, R.E.M., The Verve, Robbie Williams, Bryan Adams, Stereophonics, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Madonna, Oasis, Kings Of Leon, Bon Jovi, Foo Fighters, Metallica and most recently Harry Styles topping the bill in the castle’s natural amphitheatre.
Paying tribute to Henry, who took over the Slane Estate in 1976 as a 25-year-old fresh back from London, Hot Press editor Niall Stokes reflects: “Henry was a great character – highly intelligent, enormously colourful and great company. He was a real pioneering figure in Irish music, opening up Slane Castle in the way he did, back in 1981, for the first ever Slane Festival with Thin Lizzy headlining. That may seem commonplace now, but it was genuinely ground-breaking at the time. We owe him, and his wife Iona, a huge debt of gratitude. His legacy is immense.”
Echoing those sentiments, the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, says: “Lord Henry’s contribution was quite unique and a very important turning point in live music in Ireland when he decided to begin using the natural amphitheatre at Slane Castle as a venue at which public performances could be held by some of the most contemporary makers of music.
“It wasn’t just in relation to very well-known events that Henry was involved, he had a deep interest in promotion of music including new and young talent.
“I have been saddened over recent years to hear of his struggles with cancer, about which he spoke personally and helpfully of his experiences.”
The man who first helped Henry make that unique Slane magic happen, MCD supremo Denis Desmond, describes him as “a visionary with an enormous sense of fun and a tremendous work ethic. Onsite morning, noon and night, he was across so many details and always the last man standing when the lights went out and the show was over.
“Henry had an enormous impact on the acts who played at Slane. Long after the final note sounded, world-class performers would talk about him and the spectacular home he opened out to music lovers. Hundreds of thousands of fans from Ireland and abroad made lifelong memories at shows in Slane over the decades and so much of the credit for that is due to Henry and his hospitality. He wanted everyone to have a great time, stay safe and come again.
“He had a brilliant manner and style – almost always getting his way but also always treating people with respect. His laugh was infectious and he had a sense of humour that was often at its best in darker moments when the laughs were harder to come by but more important than ever.”
Lord Henry’s funeral took place on Wednesday June 25 at St. Patrick’s Church of Ireland, in Slane village.
Along with his wife Iona, children Alexander, Henrietta, Wolfe and Tamara and other members of the Conyngham family, mourners included Joe Lennon representing the Taoiseach, Michéal Martin; Minister for Education Helen McEntee; former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar; Adam Clayton who did one of the readings; Niall Stokes; Liam Teeling; Stephen Fitzgerald from Golden Discs; MCD’s Denis Desmond, Zach Desmond and Kim O’Callaghan; and musician David Keenan, who performed ‘The Parting Glass’ from the altar.
“Politically he was a passionate constitutional republican and he truly loved this country, its culture and people and he counted himself blessed to be an Irishman,” Alex Conyngham noted in his eulogy. “He had great courage, especially in his commitment to building peace and understanding.”
Recalling that historic Thin Lizzy gig, Alex continued: “People came from all four quarters of the island and there was no trouble, just the music. That day, the Slane Castle estate was also saved by rock ‘n’ roll, as things were on a financial knife edge. And thankfully the legacy of the concerts has continued to protect and sustain it ever since – and long may it continue to do so. None of the gigs ever could have happened without the support of the people of Slane and I know that dad, quite rightfully, would have wanted me to thank them fondly for all they did for him, the estate and the concerts over the years.”
Addressing how his father remained defiantly upbeat during his illness, Alex said: “I recall one occasion of him greeting a guest at the castle after yet another stint in the hospital. On asking him how he was doing he replied, ‘Well, I’m doing more drugs now than I did in the ‘60s!’ Throughout that time Iona was at his side and went, as love will drive one to do, above and beyond in her care for him. He was immensely lucky and privileged to have Iona in his life and he was certainly a better man for it.”
Alex’s sister, Tamara Conyngham, also recalled her father’s devil-may-care attitude in her eulogy, in which she spoke of the life lessons she learned from her father.
“I remember when I was a teenager in school spotting dad in one of the Sunday magazines’ ‘Sack The Stylist’ sections, calling him out for his mis-matched socks and mad coloured shirt. To which he replied that, ‘They just didn’t get it.’ And with the benefit of hindsight I tend to agree. Life is simply better in odd socks and even odder shirts.
“My dad had a colourful and vivid imagination, not just for harbouring schemes like getting the biggest bands in the world to play in his garden, but also with the smaller things too. Just very recently one of my cousin’s children met him for the first time and asked him what his oxygen tank was for, to which he replied without hesitation that he was just visiting from the moon. My own childhood was filled with many such factual inaccuracies. Which always kept me guessing and my imagination running wild.
“Many in this room will have the image seared clearly in their brain, of dad in his classic cargo and welly boot combo giving his socks at the aftershow party at the gates,” she continued. “He danced for so long and so hard, that he would give himself severe wellyburn every single year and wear it like a badge of honour for months to come.
“Be generous with your time,” Tamara added. “The amazing amount of stories from people that we’ve met over the last couple of days has been testament to how deeply he lived up to this.”

Tamara, Lord Henry Mount Charles and Alex at the Metallica live at Slane Castle press conference on Monday 24th of September 2018. Copyright Miguel Ruiz
In addition to performing there in 1981, 1983 and 2001, Slane is where U2 recorded their 1984 LP The Unforgettable Fire.
“Adam Clayton is one of my closest friends – he’s been very good to me – so I’ve seen close-up how bloody hard they work,” Henry told us in one of the blockbuster interviews he treated Hot Press to down through the years. “The spookiest thing is that The Unforgettable Fire, which has a ruined castle on its cover, was recorded in Slane in 1984, and in 1991 we had an unforgettable fire of our own. I remember Paul McGuinness saying they were looking for somewhere to record and me going, ‘To hell with it, Paul, whatever deals you get offered elsewhere, I’ll undercut them!’
“One of the most extraordinary Slanes was the one U2 played in 2001 just days after Bono’s father passed away,” he continued. “No one would have remotely blamed him for cancelling but, no, the show had to go on. It also coincided with the rebirth of the castle; the restoration process had been a challenging and at times tortuous experience, but my wife and myself were absolutely determined to see it through. The U2 concerts – the Taoiseach of the day, Bertie Ahern intervened so we could have two that year – marked the first time effectively that the Castle was reopened, so you had all those different emotions and a singer and a band at the height of their powers able to channel them.
“I remember watching U2 going on stage – and weeping. It was an extraordinary rollercoaster for everybody concerned and while I’ve learned to never say ‘never’ where Slane is concerned, it’s unlikely that we’ll ever witness a show like that again. It still gives me goose pimples thinking about it!”
Slane 1985 was also a very big deal for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band who’d never played an outdoor gig of that magnitude before.
“It was the victory lap, if you like, for Born In The U.S.A., which had sold 25 million copies and produced hit single after hit single,” Henry told us. “Bruce had played to big crowds before, but none as massive as the 80,000 attending Slane and he was nervous. To alleviate those nerves somewhat, he rehearsed his entire set – it must have been heading towards thirty songs – in the dining-room to a small gang of us, which was every bit as extraordinary as it sounds!
“Rather touchingly, he came back a few years ago with his family to revisit what turned out to be the scene of his triumph. After Slane, it just got bigger and bigger for him.”
Bruce’s manager Jon Landau also remembers that June night by the Boyne like it was yesterday.
“Slane was a great success and learning episode that’s etched in our minds but it was also a bit crazy!” he said talking last year to Hot Press. “We weren’t quite prepared for the liveliness of the crowd. It was a little shocking but a great way to begin our career playing outdoor shows. I remember thinking, ‘We better get ready for this because this is not the same thing as playing indoors.’ And, yeah, afterwards Bruce became a master of the large venue.”
The Boss beat the then attendance record that had been set in 1982 by the Rolling Stones. Henry had a great story about that too…
“That was their first year playing at Slane, but Mick had actually visited a few years earlier,” he revealed. “I got a call from my father, who was still in residence, saying, ‘I’ve got some chap coming to dinner. A Mick Jigger? I think he might be a musician.’ I was like, ‘Do you mean Mick Jagger?’ and, yep, it was. I took him for a few jars in the nightclub we used to have at Slane and one of the locals, spotting him in his white suit, went up and said to Mick: ‘Has anyone told you you’re the spit of that Rolling Stones fella!’”
Never one to let the grass grow under his feet, Henry, Iona and Alex in August 2017 launched Slane Whiskey in a series of estate outhouses. Needless to say, there were strong rock ‘n’ roll connections and reasons for doing it.
“You’ll probably think I’m crazy, but the original idea for the Slane Whiskey distillery came from that first Thin Lizzy show in 1981,” he explained. “I occasionally, in good spirits, DJ-ed in our nightclub and would end with the other National Anthem, ‘Whiskey In The Jar’. When I met my wife, Iona, she was working for Moët and Chandon in France, and knew the industry inside out. I asked, ‘Do you think this is a good idea?’ and she said, ‘Yes, it’s a winning one.’ So Slane Whiskey was literally born on a kitchen table. The final piece in the jigsaw was my son, Alexander, going to work in Australia for Jameson. With the knowledge and experience he gained, we were ready to go as a brand.”
Henry’s was, indeed, a life very well lived...
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