Nostalgia: Recalling last time U2 played on a Cork stage

ON August 24, 1993, U2 took to the Páirc Uí Chaoimh pitch in Cork while at the peak of their powers for what was their last performance here on Leeside.

The concert was a great coup by the promoter and Banteer native Oliver Barry, who had begun in the business by promoting showbands in the 1960s, and then staging the first Siamsa Cois Laoi in 1977.

These events are still remembered fondly all over Munster — thousands used to arrive in Thurles or Cork in August for a weekend celebrating everything Irish.

Oliver then stepped up a gear and brought U2 to Páirc Ui Chaoimh for their famous gig in 1987 as part of the Joshua Tree tour.

His friendship with U2 manager Paul McGuinness helped lure the band back to the venue in 1993, as part of their Zooropa World Tour.

On the tour, Bono was experimenting with different personas — including a character called MacPhisto, who would phone famous people such as Bill Clinton from the stage.

In Cork, he tried to phone GAA County Board secretary, Frank Murphy, but he didn’t answer — as Murphy was at the concert.

There was controversy at the time over the GAA’s refusal to allow U2 to sell branded condoms at their merchandise stall in the ground.

McGuinness distributed free condoms to the crowd, prompting a complaint from Lord Mayor of Cork Catherine Clancy, who stated “there were also 13-year-olds in the audience”.

Despite regularly playing Cork in their early days, U2 have now gone almost 30 years since their last performance here. Bono, Larry, Adam and The Edge cut their teeth in the rock world in gigs at the Arcadia on Cork’s Lower Glanmire Road.

The band also played Cork City Hall in 1982, and the Lark By The Lee gig on the Lee Fields three years later.

In 2017, a petition to bring U2 back to Cork notched up more than 3,000 views in the hours after the band sold out their Croke Park concert, but again Cork was left in the lurch.

The next Irish act to headline a gig at the Páirc after U2 were Westlife, in 2020.