Lord Henry Mount Charles' daughter makes unique request as dad is laid to rest

Irish Daily Mirror

4 days ago

The family of Slane Castle owner Lord Henry Mount Charles told mourners to "party on in his memory" at his Funeral Mass.
The rock boss passed away on June 18 after an 11-year battle with lung cancer. He was 74 years old.
His heartbroken son Alex Conyngham led the tributes at St. Patrick's Church of Ireland in Slane on Wednesday as he recalled how his father saved Slane Castle through rock and roll.
He told mourners: 'According to comedian Frank Kelly, 'the problem with Mount Charles is that he was born with a silver dagger in his back' and this very apt description reflects what shaped dad's life.
'It's true that he grew up in an unconventional and privileged position at Slane Castle, and I recall him telling me how Joe Smith, the butler, packed his bags before he went off to boarding school at Harrow.
'It was an upstairs, downstairs kind of world, kind of life story with dad, but dad, along with his brothers, Simon and Patrick, were always more interested in the downstairs side of things, spending time with the cast of characters who ran the house and estate, most notably Mary Brown, a wonderful woman from Kerry who largely raised him.
'That thread has continued for dad, and he was immensely lucky to have a colourful string of people working alongside him on the estate, for which he was hugely grateful as they rolled through the good times and the occasional dark days.
'Dad initially struggled with his Anglo Irish identity and described it as feeling like he had a leg either side of the Irish Sea, with each side treating him as something of an outsider.
'It was when he went to Harvard and immersed himself in the study of Irish history that that fog of uncertainty lifted there, he came to realise, that Ireland was a country fed by many streams, and that he, as an Anglo Irish aristocrat, belonged to one of those streams, and that if he applied himself, he could make a positive contribution towards it.'
He said Lord Henry 'truly loved this country' and he 'counted himself blessed to be an Irishman'.
'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.
'Not all agreed with this perspective, and in the early days, aggressive, negative graffiti would be found on the castle gates and walls.
'But this only emboldened dad to strive all the harder.
'Dad also came to realise that he needed to find ways to open the castle gates rather than keep them closed.'
He said Slane Castle's concerts saved the castle from financial ruin.
'The real breakthrough in doing so came in 1981 with that first concert when Eamon McCann, Denis Desmond and dad banded together and flew by the seat of their hands to put on Thin Lizzy in the back garden with U2 and Hazel O'Connor in support.
'It was a trailblazing moment for all of them in the midst of palpable political tension, and was driven by a conviction that music is a universal language that brings people together.
'And that's exactly what happened that day in the field of Slane, people came from all four quarters of the island, and there was no trouble just in the that day, the Slane Castle estate was also saved by rock and 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 have continued 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, even after the challenging circumstances of Bob Dylan in '84, the community rolled in behind him to bring them back when Jim Aiken brought Bruce Springsteen back to Slane in '85 and there were locals proudly in the village wearing their Slane '84 survivor T shirts.'
Alex recalled being at the bottom of the ramp when Springsteen came off stage and the roar from the crowd shook the board beside them.
'I'll never forget the thrill I saw on dad's face in that moment. He often described the Slane live music experience as something of a spiritual one, and for many it remains a rite of passage, something expressed clearly in the innumerable messages shared over the recent days.'
Alex recalled when his father tried to run in local elections, saying he 'relished' canvassing and knocking on doors.
'Dad loved to connect, and he always taught me the power, importance and value of making time for the chat, something he felt that modern life and its formative communications was somewhat berated, although his political ambitions were not realised.
'Dad found other ways to express his political opinions in his Lord Henry column for the Irish Mirror to which he was coaxed into doing by Jumbo Kierans, he had no grounds about firing both barrels of political misdemeanour, but he also enjoyed commending efforts and actions when he felt they were so preserved.
'He'd file those articles even during his illness, when he was able, and he loved the fact that he was writing for a red top rather than a high brow broadsheet. And he was always grateful for the support and encouragement he received from Niall Moonan and the rest of the crew.
'Dad always had a strong and trusting relationship with the media, and he always made time for and indeed lent into any interview he conducted. I personally have received many good wishes from journalists, publishers, agents and photographers who encountered dad along the way. Our family have been completely bowled over by the extent and depth of coverage in recent days, and Dad would feel so honoured and humbled by it all.'
He joked that while his father was known as 'Henry the eighth', he only married twice to 'two remarkable women'.
For himself, Alex said he was glad he had a father who backed him when he told him they would build their own whiskey distillery.
'But the thing about Dad was that he loved to take risks and he always had my back.'
Alex said the last decade of his father's life was 'at times pretty tough' as he battled lung cancer, adding: 'but his determination and wit never left him.'
'I recall one occasion on him greeting guests at the castle after yet another stint in hospital, on asking him how he was doing, he replied, 'Well, I'm doing more drugs now than I did in the 60s.''
Lord Henry's daughter Henrietta told mourners how her father was given months to live by doctors 11 years ago.
She spoke fondly about her dad's questionable fashion of coloured shirts and his mismatched socks, which at one point ended up in a 'Sack the Stylist' column in a Sunday newspaper.
'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 other shirts. Use your imagination. My dad had a colourful and vivid imagination, not just for harebrained schemes like getting the biggest bands in the world to play in his garden, but 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 in my imagination running wild. If you're going to dance do it like you mean it, many in this room will have the image seared clearly in their brain of dad and his classic cargo and welly combo giving it socks at the after show to party at the gates.
'He danced for so long and so hard that he would give himself severe welly burn every single year and wear it like a badge of honour for months to come. '
She said her father was 'one of the most determined people' that she knew.
'Lastly, one of my favourite lessons from dad came after a party in the castle a few years ago, I fell asleep on the window bench in Brown's bar. Unbeknownst to me, mum came over that morning to survey the damage, which there was some, I was greeted by some stragglers still up in the courtyard.
'A few hours later, dad called me and said in a very serious voice that he had a bone to pick with me that he was very, very disappointed in me for going to bed before the last of my guests.
'He fought for so long, because he didn't want to leave the party and all that we can do now is party on in his memory,' she added.
Mourners also heard from Lord Henry's pal of 50 years, Nick Koumarianos who described him as 'one hell of a cool dude'.
'He was tall, he was handsome, he was titled, and by the way, he knew it.'
He said he put 'Ireland on the map' for generations of pop music around the world.
He recalled Lord Henry dragging him to a political event in New York, which Lord Henry did not have a plus one to.
'I've seen films about American jails, and I wasn't keen to experience them firsthand, but Henry was insistent, so off we went.
'And sure enough, security was all over the place. Henry convinced him I was his cousin and was on the original invitation. I wondered how long Henry could control his sense of mystery. And then, under the eagle eye of the chief security officer, Henry, carefully signed me into the visitors book as a gate crasher.'
'Years moved on, and his illness restricted him. He was still happy to count his blessings, and first amongst them was his dearly loved and much-admired wife, I am to whom both he and we owe so much for her selfish devotion to him, and who amongst those present will ever forget the sight of that mighty man turn the ill but still undefeated, as he proudly led his daughter Tamara up the aisle in this very church less than two years ago.
'Henry bored his illness with remarkable courage and to the end, was capable of both laughter and mischief. At this stage, anyone else's life's work would be done, but not Henry. He was still planning things when I visited him quite recently.
'He'd just taken delivery of a new chair, which enabled him to stand up easily, and he'd also got a very smart new walking frame. He even invited me to go for a stroll next time I was up this way, sadly to say, that was not to be shortly afterwards, Henry slipped away quietly, and those of you who know Him will know that quietly was not his usual.
'It's hard to believe he's gone. He's left this world so great was his enthusiasm for life, but he has so now, let me conclude my few words today by saying farewell, old pal.'
Presiding over the Funeral Mass, Rev Canon John Clarke told the congregation that Lord Henry had a 'colourful and wonderful life'.
'Indeed, a life so bravely and courageously lived,' he said.
Among the mourners included U2's Adam Clayton, Joe Lennon, who represented Taoiseach Michael Martin and Tanaiste Simon Harris, former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Education Minister Helen McEntee.
Rev Clarke said: 'While in this service, we offer our farewell to Henry, we remember his life with appreciation, fondness, gladness, and so our gathering should truly be one of thanksgiving and celebration. Henry had many attributes and diverse facets to his life. So in appreciation of these, hopefully this service will help us to reflect on at least some of our special memories of him.
'I'm sure Henry queried and questioned faith as much as any of us, but steadfastly beneath it all, he had a deep sense of the call to peace and to unity, to fellowship and family gathering and life in God's greater kingdom.'
He added that Lord Henry's life was 'wonderfully lived.'
During the service, the first reading was read by Lord Simon Conyngham who read The Canterville Ghosts by Oscar Wilde.
U2 superstar Adam Clayton read the second reading, which was an excerpt by 1 Corinthians Chapter 13, while the third reading was The Family Tree.
Singer David Keane sang The Parting Glass, while reminiscing about first meeting Lord Henry at the launch of Slane Whiskey's new distillery who joked that he told him to practice "discipline".
The closing hymn was Abide with Me, while the processional song was U2's song, Let It Go as Lord Henry's coffin was carried out of the church.