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Border series: Saturday afternoon on Radio Sligo

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Border series: Saturday afternoon on Radio Sligo
Radio Sligo t-shirt featuring station logo (courtesy Ian Biggar)

The history of pirate radio in Sligo is complicated by the existence of different stations of the same name during various periods, with no clear link to each other. The first period dates began in 1979 with two pirates based in the town – the first station calling itself Radio Sligo on 1166 kHz and the other called Radio City on 1300 kHz, which renamed itself Community Radio Sligo by 1980. Neither station was mentioned in the August/September 1980 edition of Sounds Alternative, so there may have been no pirates operating in the town at that time.

The second period is from autumn 1981 when a new Radio Sligo was logged on 1260 kHz, announcing 237 metres. This station featured in pirate radio listings in the Sunday Journal from late 1981 into 1982. The Danish Shortwave Clubs International Irish radio reports gave an address of 4 Castle Street, Sligo for this station. It continued to be logged in various sources up to 1984.

The third period is from 1985 with the arrival of another station called Radio Northwest, which later renamed itself Radio Sligo. According to a list published by Anoraks Ireland on 7th October 1985, this was also based at 4 Castle Street, so it may have been connected with the previous station of the same name, although probably not with the original Radio Sligo from 1979.

This short airchecked recording of Radio Sligo is from the second period and features an unidentified DJ and adverts for local businesses in Sligo. It was recorded from 1745-1805 on Saturday 29th January 1983 from 1260 kHz. The tape is from the Leon Tipler Collection, donated to us by Steve England. Thanks to Ian Biggar for additional background information.

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Early Cork series: More of the launch of Radio City

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Early Cork series: More of the launch of Radio City
Susan James at Radio City in 1980 (courtesy Lilian O’Donoghue)

This recording features more of the launch broadcast of Cork pirate Radio City at the end of August 1980. Pete Andrews (O’Neill) is in the chair with music and a preview of the planned programmes with various DJs including Susan James, Seán Collins, Derry O’Callaghan, Dave Johnson, Steve Douglas, John Marner and Dave Powell. There’s a cryptic reference to DJs from rival station Capital Radio who are said to be outside but not invited to the launch. Full programming on Radio City began the following day.

Early Cork series: More of the launch of Radio City
Derry O’Callaghan at Radio City in 1981 (courtesy Lilian O’Donoghue)

This recording was made from 1512 kHz, announcing 199 metres between 1634-1711 on Sunday 31st August 1980 and is courtesy of Ken Baird. Audio quality is fair with variable levels.

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Radio Nova breakfast show as heard in Britain

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Radio Nova breakfast show as heard in Britain
Declan Meehan at Nova during the raid of 1983 (courtesy Joe King).

The big Dublin pirate Radio Nova made various attempts to break into the British market during its 5 years on air. This recording features part of the breakfast show presented by Declan Meehan and Bob Gallico (RIP) and was made by English radio enthusiast Leon Tipler, presumably at his home in Kidderminster near Birmingham. It includes plenty of fading as is typical for AM propagation at the time of day and year. Although the weather forecast includes northwest England and Nova attempted to gain listeners in that region, clearly the signal was not commercially viable further south at Tipler’s home.

The recording was made from 819 kHz AM on 8th October 1982 between 0648-0718 and is from the Leon Tipler Collection, donated to us by Steve England.

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Early Cork series: First Afternoon Delight show on Radio City

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Early Cork series: First Afternoon Delight show on Radio City
Karl Johnson (Dan Noonan) at Radio City in 1981 (courtesy Lilian O’Donoghue).

This recording is of the first Afternoon Delight show on Cork pirate Radio City, on its first full day on air in 1980. The show was presented each weekday by Karl Johnson (Dan Noonan), who also managed the station. Karl has no phone number for listeners but there are still plenty of requests, presumably handed in to the station at 27 Parnell Place in the city centre. There’s also a promo for the Guaranteed Irish programme on Tuesday and Thursday nights and a single live-read advert for an event in a local hotel.  

The tape was made by Ken Baird from 1512 kHz, announcing 199 metres, between 1509-1555 on Monday 1st September 1980 and is kindly donated by Ian Biggar.

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Radio Dublin as heard in Cumbria

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Radio Dublin as heard in Cumbria
Radio Dublin badge from the Pirate.ie collection.

Radio Dublin was one of Ireland’s longest running pirate stations, on air from 1966 to 2002. This recording was made in Broughton-in Furness on the Cumbrian coast and features Gerry Stevens with the end of the breakfast programme, which was also broadcast on Radio Dublin Channel 2. Gerry announces that Channel 2 is coming on the air with separate programming at 1000 and he is followed by Adrian St James (Nolan) with the Morning Call International programme on the main Radio Dublin frequencies on AM, FM and shortwave. The phone is out of order but Adrian still shares requests from listeners, presumably dropped into the station in Inchicore or received by post. The daily Golden Hour slot begins at 1030 and there’s a promo for the weekly Lebanon Requests Show with DJ Angie.  

There is good AM groundwave propagation on the recording despite the distance of over 230 kilometres from Dublin to Cumbria. The tape was made from 1188 kHz (253 metres) on 26th June 1983 between 0936-1037. It is from the Leon Tipler Collection, donated to us by Steve England. Adrian Nolan continues to broadcast on Irish radio to this day.