Old Dublin Town
  • About
  • Ask the Locals What to do and See in Dublin
  • Iveagh Market
  • Dublin History
  • Old Dublin Photos
  • Richmond Barracks
  • Goldenbridge Cemetery
  • Tara Morgan
  • Beatles in Dublin
  • U2 Dublin Concert 2018
  • Rosie Hackett Bridge
  • Anna Livia sculpture
  • Shane MacThomais
  • My Goodness My Guinness
  • Thomas Read's 1670
  • Fade Street Social
  • Luke Kelly
  • St. Michaels Hill
  • Dublin Pissori's
  • Arthur Fields
  • Alica Brady
  • Dublin Buses
  • Irish House Pub
  • Teeling Whiskey
  • Church Street 1913
  • William Martin Murphy
  • Nelson Pillar
  • Swastika Laundry
  • Guinness
  • Thomas Street
  • It all started with Michael Carey
  • Bang! Bang!
  • Culture Night 2017
  • Guinness Boats & Barges
  • Dublins Hidden River
  • Alfred Byrne Lord Mayor Of Dublin
  • Brendan Behan
  • The Dubliners' Dublin
  • Teeling's Buses
  • U2 Dublin Concerts
  • U2 Windmill Lane
  • Culture Night 2015
  • Pillar Gates

U2 Dublin Concerts 2015

Welcome to the eternal home of the the band U2 - DUBLIN Ireland.  Old Dublin Town has put this page together to celebrate the Dublin Concerts 2015 and to help the many fans coming to Dublin for the shows. Hope it helps!    Don't forget to say hello on Twitter @OldDublinTown  ​

I have decided that the U2 Dublin Concerts are now part of Dublin History and this page will remain on the website.

TWITTER HASH-TAG:          #U2TheJoshuaTree2017

Picture

Listen to U2 Radio 

Picture
Picture

​The Night I Moved in “Mysterious Ways”

Picture



​Jenna Leigh attended the U2 Dublin (3) Concert on Friday night 27th November that night she created a lifetime  Memory,  read her story below.  Thank you Jenna for sharing this amazing insight of that moment on stage with U2 on that special night in Dublin.


​The Night I Moved in “Mysterious Ways”


You always wish on that one shooting star that one day your dreams will become a reality. Some lose hope and some continue to believe in that one moment where taking a chance can become your destiny.  I took my chance when I came to my dream destination, which most only dream of the opportunity to get to go, but I did when I came to Dublin, Ireland, U2’s hometown to see them live in concert. This would have never been possible without my big sister Laura, who worked hard to organize our trip and get us tickets to Friday’s show (Dublin 3) and made sure we had the best time of our lives. This even included her spending nights making us custom U2 shirts for the show.

Let me tell you, U2 isn’t just a band but their men who bring people together from all over the world for the same reasons… they’re able to gather strangers together to not only become your friends but your family too. Standing in a GA line you meet so many fantastic people who you start to share memories with, some singing with you to your favorite U2 song or who share in the same love for one band and in return you become a pack, you become ONE.  Standing for 12 hours in the cold and rain, each hour passes you by and you know you’re getting one step closer to a chance of getting a rail spot which people only hope to get. That night we not only earned a spot on the rail, but what happened next I can only describe as a night of a lifetime that will never be forgotten.

For anyone that’s ever attended a U2 concert you know how amazing the atmosphere becomes when Bono first walks out on that stage. Dublin 3 was full of emotion from the band, especially Bono. It had to be one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen, I felt like every song that night had its own emotion and was full of life. Not only did I get to feel the emotion of each song but during Mysterious Ways I was pulled on stage by my idol, an honor that only every fan wishes to have. To have Bono spot you out of a crowd full of amazing people and to choose you felt very special. Being very overwhelmed in the moment, I quickly came out of my amazement to be able to sing and dance along. It not only felt comfortable but he made me feel like I was the star, not him, and to share a moment like that has no words that can fully explain it. If I had to pick out one minute during those two songs that really hit home for me it was when Bono stared up at me from kneeling and hugging my legs to look at me with a big smile and say “wow” like I had amazed him, when the real amazement was getting that one moment to stand in front of him like I had dreamed of doing and knowing that night I made someone else smile. I look at Bono not as a celebrity but as one of us, a man, a person trying to bring peace, happiness, and all of us together to share in the love of something special.

The rest of my time on stage which included recording the Meerkat can only be described as magical…looking out into a crowd of people who are jumping and cheering you on and enjoying every moment just as you are is extraordinary. Walking around the “e” stage was so fun because I was able to give each band member, The Edge, Adam and Larry, a moment of their own appreciation, all of which are smiling and playing their hearts out.  Ending the most indescribable night of my life taking a selfie with Bono made this 22 year old the happiest girl on the planet. I can only now thank the amazing people who took pictures and cheered me on while I was on stage with the band, the band themselves who gave me this memory of a life time, and to the security guards and fellow friends I had made that night who helped me over the rail to put me right beside Bono. This will be something I will cherish for the rest of my life, being able to one day tell my children, and their children, of the night I moved in “Mysterious Ways”.

© Jenna Leigh, Toronto Canada.
This story is the property of Jenna Leigh.

Picture
Picture

I will cherish for the rest of my life, being able to one day tell my children, and their children, of the night I moved in “Mysterious Ways” ~   Jenna Leigh.


Picture
Picture

U2: Made in Dublin

Picture
Ireland's greatest rock band has finally got the exhibition it deserves.  U2: Made in Dublin charts the story of the band over the last 40 years.  This fan-curated exhibition features musical rarities, signed albums and some great photography, alongside delights such as a Trabant car, an oversize Gibson Explorer, a life-size sculpture of MacPhisto and even a pack of U2 condoms.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Visit "U2 MADE IN DUBLIN" exhibition at the LITTLE MUSEUM OF DUBLIN at 15 St Stephens Green (beside Dawson Street Junction).   You will also see lots of other items of Dublin History there.
Little Museum of Dublin

Early U2 Concerts at the Dandelion Market St Stephens Green.

Picture
Picture
Picture
This is an exclusive recording of U2 at a gig in the Dandelion Market in 1979,  this is "Out of Control" from the end of that performance. The entry price to the gig was 50 pence which is about 64 cent. the support band on the day was the strougers.  This performance was recorded by Peter McCluskey, guitarist with the Strougers.

Other Irish U2 Concerts.

Picture
Picture
Picture

Songs of Innocence U2 latest album is very personal to them.  The show mentions many Dublin Landmarks.  Bono tells of the impact the death of his mother and the traumas he experienced at the tender age of 14.  Here we look at some of the locations mentioned in the show.  

Picture
Picture
10 Cedarwood Road, Glasnevin were the young Paul David Hewson now known as Bono lived.

Mount Temple Comprehensive  School, Malahide Road, Clontarf.

Picture
In September 1976 Larry Mullen a 14 year old student of Mount Temple Comprehensive School posted a notice on the school notice board.  It was an invitation for students to join a new band.  Several pupils responded among the Dave Evans, Adam Clayton and Paul Hewson.  The band was formed and U2 was up and running.  

Bonovox a hearing aid store.

Picture
Bonovox a hearing aid store was the inspiration to Paul Hewson to create his new name Bono after joining the band U2.

Dandelion Market on St Stephens Green.

Picture
The Dandelion Market on St Stephens Green existed in the 1970’s .  You could buy Records, T- Shirts, flares, Jeans,  and almost anything.   The Market became synonymous with U2, in May and June 1979 the band delivered a six week Saturday afternoon residency.  The market made way for the St Stephens Green Shopping Centre which exists today.

Mc Gonagles on South Anne Street.

Picture
Just off Grafton Street a music venue called McGonagle’s was a venue which featured U2 in 1978.   Bill Graham a journalist for Hotpress a music magazine which is still published today reported on the U2 concerts.  He said “U2 are impressive contenders with the appetite and talent to improve beyond their already credible status”.

Project Arts Centre, East Essex Street, Temple Bar.

Picture
In May of 1978 a Trinity College graduate Paul McGuinness went to see a band called U2 play at the Project Art Centre.  Thus started a 30 year relationship with their great manager.

Sandymount Strand

Picture
An early iconic photoshoot with U2 on Sandymount Strand with the Towers of the Poolbeg Generation Station in the background.  The chimneys featured in the video to pride (In the name of Love).
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
McGonagles 1979

Also see the Windmill Lane Page for more U2 History.


THE CONCERT VENUE ~ 3ARENA, DUBLIN 

Picture

The History

The venue for the 2015 U2 iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE Concert is the 3 arena a modern concert venue in Dockland Dublin.  Formerly The O2 and previously called the Point Depot.  This building  started life as a large cast-iron warehouse,  It was built in 1878 by the Great Southern and Western Railway Company as a riverside goods depot. The location beside the point at which the East Wall and North Wall met provided the buildings name.
In the 1980's the building was abandoned and facing collapse when it was bought by Harry Crosbie from CIÉ for €952,500.  Harry turned the building into a multi-purpose concert, exhibition and conference centre.  During the renovation U2 recorded part of their Rattle and Hum album in the building.   The building has hosted the Eurovision Song Contest on three separate occasions in the 1990's and the 1999 and the MTV European Music Awards. Many national and International artists have performed at this venue.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

During the renovation of the Point Depot U2 recorded part of their Rattle and Hum album in the building. 

Picture
Picture
Picture
The show was recorded during U2's Lovetown Tour on New Year's Eve ​1989 at the Point Depot in Dublin. 
U2 History mix.

It is going to be a Beautiful Day in Dublin in November 2015

On Wednesday, 27 September 2000 U2 filmed as they sung Beautiful Day on the roof of the Clarence Hotel Dublin

Picture
Picture

Did you know that U2 are Freemen of Dublin. 

Picture
Picture
U2 are Freemen of the City of Dublin 
The rock group U2 are Freemen of Dublin,  Bono, The Edge, Larry Mullen and Adam Clayton along with U2 manager Paul McGuinness and the president of the Burmese National League for Democracy, Ms Aung San Suu Kyi, recipient of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, was introduced by the Lord Mayor, Councillor Mary Freehill, and passed unanimous at a meeting of city councillors.  The Lord Mayor said the international success of U2 had raised Dublin's profile overseas and had encouraged young people to visit the city.

Visit City Hall Dublin to see U2 Signatures on the Freedom of the City Roll of honour.


Picture

GLASGOW BAND DECEMBER HONOURS U2 AND ALI HEWSON:
Buy now for Chernobyl Children 

December - Surrender.
​ 
A SCOTS band have recorded a charity single in a tribute to Irish supergroup U2.  And December have even named the track Alison Stewart after Bono's wife.

December, formerly known as The Janes, will donate all proceeds from the single to Chernobyl Children International, a cause supported by Ali Hewson (nee Stewart).

The video was filmed on location in Dublin and features some important landmarks in U2's history, including Mount Temple Comprehensive School where the band was formed in 1976.

​
Please help the  Chernobyl Children by purchasing this song. 

tunes.apple.com/gb/album/id1051033285?app=itunes …
http://www.chernobyl-international.com/
Picture

U2 Fans gather at the 3 Arena on Sunday 22nd November 2015.


Some photographs from Twitter of the Dublin Concerts.


Picture

Suggestions for sightseeing in Dublin
Ask the Locals and check out our: 

What to do and see in Dublin Page.


Picture


Also checkout RTE Archives for more U2 Memories;  
  


http://www.rte.ie/archives/exhibitions/937-u2/