Slane Castle

Slane Castle
Caisleán Bhaile Shláine
Slane, Ireland
Slane Castle seen from within its grounds
Slane Castle
Coordinates	53°42′32″N 6°33′40″W / 53.709°N 6.561°W / 53.709; -6.561
Site information
Owner	The 8th Marquess Conyngham
Controlled by	Slane Castle Ltd
Open to the public	Yes
Site history
Built	1701 (1701)
In use	Still in use
Events	Slane Concert

Slane Castle is located in the town of Slane, within the Boyne Valley of County Meath, Ireland. The castle has been the family home of the Conyngham family since the 18th century.

It holds the Slane Concert event within its grounds, with the Irish Independent claiming in 2004 that "Slane today is the kind of internationally recognised venue that can claim even Madonna's attention". Its sloping lawns form a natural amphitheatre.

Overlooking the River Boyne, just a few kilometres upstream from Newgrange and the site of the famous Battle of the Boyne, Slane Castle in its existing form was constructed under the direction of William Burton Conyngham, together with his nephew The 1st Marquess Conyngham. The reconstruction dates back to 1785 and is principally the work of James Gandon, James Wyatt and Francis Johnston. Francis Johnston was also the architect responsible for the gothic gates on the Mill Hill, located to the east of the castle.

The Conynghams are originally a Scottish Protestant family, who planted in Ireland in 1611, during the Plantation of Ulster in County Donegal. With that, the family asserted control over lands around the village of Tamhnach an tSalainn, near Donegal Town in the south of County Donegal. Concurrently, the then head of the family, Charles Conyngham, renamed the village in his own honour as Mountcharles (pronounced locally in South Donegal as 'Mount-char-liss'). The family also controlled an extensive estate in West Donegal, especially in The Rosses district.