Rolling Stones Return to Dublin Airport 47 Years Later

Archive photographs of The Rolling Stones from 1965, most of which had never been seen publicly until a couple of months ago, have gone on public display at Dublin Airport.

The exhibition, which coincides with The Rolling Stones 50th anniversary, opened today and features 20 black and white images of the band on an Irish tour in September 1965.This is the first time that the photographic essay – which includes pictures of the Stones arriving at Dublin Airport, in concert and backstage the Adelphi Cinema in Dublin and at Connolly Station en route to Belfast – has been publicly exhibited.

The black and white photographs were taken in September 1965 when The Rolling Stones came to Ireland for a two-date tour with concerts in Dublin and Belfast. The tour, which was immortalised in the recently released documentary film Charlie Is My Darling, took place  just a few weeks after (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction topped the charts and featured the original Rolling Stones line up of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Brian Jones and Bill Wyman.

The photographers who shot the Stones in Ireland in 1965 – Padraig MacBrian and Andy Farren – at the time owned the Dublin-based Lensmen Photographic Agency. The two men, who are both in their 90s, still live in Dublin.

Lensmen’s current owner, Susan Kennedy, said the recently-discovered Rolling Stones pictures “had been filed away and forgotten for several decades” until they were discovered earlier this year.”It was a long and winding road to find these wonderful images of the Stones as they were hidden away among about 2.6 million negatives in the archive,” according to Kennedy. “But they are a fantastic find and show the Stones enjoying the first fruits of major success.”

Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) Public Affairs Director Paul O’Kane said Dublin Airport was delighted to be able to exhibit the photographs in public for the first time. “Forty seven years after Mick, Keith, Charlie, Brian and Bill touched down at Dublin Airport, they’ve returned in pictorial form. Dublin Airport is delighted to be able to bring these images to a wide audience by displaying them in a public area in Terminal 1.”

Lensmen’s Irish Photo Archive is currently being catalogued and contains an estimated 2.6 million negatives of newsworthy events that faithfully document 60 years of Irish history. It is believed that the archive includes many other celebrity photographs that have never been previously published.

The Lensmen photographs of The Rolling Stones at Dublin Airport featured in a 42-page collector’s edition hardback book produced to coincide with the release of the movie The Rolling Stones Charlie is My Darling – Ireland 1965.The Rolling Stones began their 50th anniversary tour earlier this week with a sold out concert at London’s 02 Arena.

The 1965 Rolling Stones photographs are also available for purchase at http://www.theloop.ie/t/RollingStones_Pictures

Picture: The Rolling Stones in an airport bus at Dublin Airport in September 1965 (l-r Brian Jones (guitar) Charlie Watts (drums) Mick Jagger (vocals) Keith Richards (guitar) and Bill Wyman (bass).

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For further information contact:
Lensmen: Susan Kennedy, 353 1 8197738, 353 87 2584388
DAA: Paul O’Kane, 353 1 8141897, 353 86 6090221