Henry Conyngham, 8th Marquess Conyngham

Who is Henry Conyngham, 8th Marquess Conyngham?

The Most Hon. Henry Vivien Pierpont Conyngham, 8th Marquess Conyngham, is an Anglo-Irish nobleman who holds a title in the United Kingdom Peerage of Ireland. However Article 40.2 of the Irish Constitution forbids the state conferring titles of nobility and a citizen may not accept titles of nobility or honour except with the prior approval of the Government, present titles of peerage being considered anachronistic, titles of peerage are thus regarded as simply courtesy titles.

Styled Viscount Slane until 1974 and Earl of Mount Charles from 1974 until 2009, he succeeded his father in the marquessate in March 2009, although in the Republic of Ireland he is often still referred to as 'Henry Mountcharles'. The Marquess Conyngham has a high profile in Ireland with a weekly column in the Irish Daily Mirror. He is often termed 'the rock and roll aristocrat' or 'the rock and roll peer' owing to his very successful series of rock concerts from 1981, held in the natural amphitheater of the grounds of Slane Castle. These have included The Rolling Stones, Thin Lizzy, Queen, U2, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie, Guns N' Roses, Oasis and Madonna.