New Lord of Slane Castle says supergroup Oasis would be welcome back at iconic venue

Sunday World

4 days ago

'I remember that one very well and there's great photos of them back at the castle and lovely footage of Noel talking about how important Slane was as a gig for them'
The new Lord of Slane Castle has said that supergroup Oasis would be welcomed back to the iconic venue for a show next year.
Alex Conyngham, son of the late Lord Henry Mount Charles, revealed to the Sunday World that he intends to continue running gigs and is chasing a major act to perform at the Meath venue next year.
Asked if Oasis would be in the frame, Alex told us: 'If they wanted to come back to Slane I would certainly be very willing to have them. The boys would always be welcome here.
'Slane was always a great gig for them. It's actually just gone 30 years since they supported REM here, which was an amazing gig.
'I remember that one very well and there's great photos of them back at the castle and lovely footage of Noel talking about how important Slane was as a gig for them.
'That support of REM was one of the biggest crowds they'd played to up to that time. And then they just took off.
'And when they headlined in 2009 I could hardly speak the next day because I had sung all the words to the songs…the atmosphere was just unbelievable.
'So, yes, they'd always be welcome back here. They now have a multi-generational fanbase and that makes for a really lovely crowd scenario as well.'
Alex, who is now running Slane Castle with his wife, Carina – the couple also live in the castle with their three children 'and three dogs' – says he is passionate about carrying on his father's legacy, particularly the music events.
The late Lord Henry Mount Charles Noel Gallagher before Slane 2009
News in 90 seconds - 10th August 2025
'We had a wonderful relationship,' Alex says of Lord Henry, who died in June after a long battle with cancer.
'Like all parents and kids there were moments we tested each other a bit, but that was healthy. But he was my dad, he was my friend, he was my business partner, so we did a lot together and the vast majority of the time we got on extremely well.
'Occasionally I might have needed a kick up the arse or a put down and it was probably well deserved, in fairness.'
Did you get a sense that he had trust and confidence in you taking over the business?
'I spent his last night with him, it was just the two of us, I slept in the room in the hospital on the floor beside him and we actually talked until very late that night,' Alex reveals.
'We chit-chatted and we did get a bit serious at times and I think and hope he did feel confident about myself and Carina carrying it forward.
'He reiterated a few different messages, but the one he was very clear on always is, it's not a question of ownership with a place like Slane, you don't own the place and hopefully it doesn't own you, but it's about looking after it for the wider public.'
Alex (50) grew up in Slane Castle and he recalls being a six-year-old and seeing crowds running through the field where cattle had been grazing when the gates opened for the first concert in 1981 with Bob Dylan topping the bill.
'Watching this torrent of people flooding down, it was like a sea,' he says. 'There was also the buzz of the soundcheck beforehand and I'd never heard big noise like that aged six. It was an extraordinary experience from the get-go.'
Alex recalled how his father would consult his teenage children about acts he was contemplating for Slane 'and would swear us to secrecy.'
And he vividly remembers meeting one of his own idols, Slash from Guns N' Roses, when the American supergroup played Slane in 1990.
'That Guns N' Roses gig in '92 was a little fraught because the band were late on stage and myself and Dad started getting very nervous because the crowd were getting, understandably, a bit agitated,' he says.
'We went down to them to find out what was going on. Slash, who was definitely one of my all-time heroes as a teenager, got me a chair and handed me a beer, which was a very surreal experience.
'We said, 'this is lovely, Slash, thank you so much, but where the hell is Axl?''
'It turned out that he was still in his hotel room in Dublin. There was a panic then and we basically said, 'if you are not on stage in the next half-an-hour/40 minutes there's probably going to be a riot and that's going to rest on your head. So whatever you have to do, please just make it happen.'
'Axl came straight from the hotel, landed in a helicopter, walked on stage and opened with Night Train. So it was amazing.
'In fairness, when they came back and played in 2017 I met Axl and we kind of laughed about that. And he was very courteous and apologetic…and he put on an amazing show.
'Dad was very sick and it was the only concert he ever missed…we came very close to losing him then in 2017.
'There was a lovely moment during the gig where Axl said, 'big shout out to Lord Henry who is in hospital and not very well at the moment.' There was a big, lovely roar from the crowd.
'Then he added, 'but I'm not going to dedicate that last song to him,' which was Knocking On Heaven's Door.'
SLANE Castle will host CAIM, a contemporary art programme, from September 12-30.