Rock Concerts at Slane Castle, Ireland 1983

The challenges of making Slane Castle a venue for a rock concert.

This is the third year of concerts at Slane Castle having previously played host to Thin Lizzy in 1981 and The Rolling Stones in 1982.

The road from Dublin to Slane was constructed under the orders of King George IV of England who wanted to visit his mistress Elizabeth Marchioness Conyngham where she lived at Slane Castle. Direct descendant of Elizabeth is the present owner of Slane Castle Lord Henry Mountcharles. He is the man behind holding concerts at the castle.

Last year, Slane Castle hosted The Rolling Stones and singer Mick Jagger praised the geography of the site for a rock concert.

"You don’t have to climb on a ladder or on someone’s shoulders to see."

Lord Henry Mountcharles says that one of the biggest challenges in staging a concert is security. £25,000 of special fencing had to be erected around the 20 acre site. Hundreds of security staff were also needed to police the area. Toilets were custom made on the back of articulated trailers specifically for the event.

"Every time we do another concert we look not at where we went right but where we went wrong."

Residents of the village of Slane describe the impact of the festival on the local community. One villager believes that Slane is not really able to cope with the number of visitors who arrive for a concert. One of the challenges for the village is that many people come to the Slane in the days leading up to the concert. One woman complains that there about sixty people in her front garden at one stage who left behind piles of rubbish and bottles. Others are more supportive and believe that the concert offers something for the young people of Slane to enjoy.

"I’m all in favour of the concerts."

Lord Henry Mountcharles acknowledges that wherever you have 70,000 people gathered together, there will always be some trouble. He also says that event provides quite a lot of temporary employment and injected a large amount of money into the local economy.

People from the village carried out a household vote on the future of Slane Castle as a venue for rock concerts. An announcement is pending on who will play the venue this year.

This episode of ‘Ireland’s Eye’ was broadcast on 2 March 1983. The presenter is Carolyn Fisher.

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