Lord Henry Mountcharles, owner of Slane Castle in Co. Meath, has decided to let bygones be bygones with his old nemesis Eminem. The American rap king is set to play a show at Slane on August 17, even though he infamously pulled out of a gig there in 2005, citing “exhaustion.” (Or in other words, drug addiction; Em went to a facility to get clean not long after that.)

There was a court case between Eminem and concert promoters MCD over the brouhaha, with MCD claiming a loss of millions. But all that was settled and everyone’s the best of friends now – even though Lord Henry was furious when he found out via the Internet that the rapper was bailing.

“What happened in 2005 is water under the bridge. These things happen and you don't cry over spilt milk. I'm just excited to have Eminem next year and it's going to be really special,” Mountcharles told the Sunday World.

"What's mind-blowing for me is that two billion people have looked at his music videos on the Internet."

Em’s show will mark the second show at the fabled Slane venue next summer – the first time that Lord Henry has opened his castle gates to two acts.  Bon Jovi will do the honors on June 15.

How will Irish concert-goers be able to afford two shows at Slane?  "We're keeping the ticket price for both shows to below €80,” Lord Henry promised.

The Irish certainly weren’t cash strapped recently when it came time to ponying up for Bruce Springsteen tickets in Limerick. The Boss is playing his first gig in Thomond Park there next July, and the ducats sold like hotcakes.

Some 25,000 tickets were gone in a couple of hours for the gig. Springsteen is also playing shows in Cork and Belfast; they too sold out pretty much instantly.