Pirate.ie proudly supports An Cailín Ciúin

Pirate.ie proudly supports An Cailín Ciúin
An Stoirm Chiúin, adapted from Q102 advert in 1985

In February 2021, the director and writer of an Irish language film to be known as Fanacht contacted Pirate.ie about using clips from our archive as ‘radio filler’. Colm Bairéad told us that the film was based on Claire Keegan’s novel Foster and set in Louth and Waterford over the summer of 1981. In order to give a flavour of local radio from that era, he said that they would like to use audio of DJs and adverts on Radio Carousel and ABC Radio from the early 1980s. We were more than happy to support this and wrote back to Colm in Irish and English with information about using or adapting the clips.

Two years later and what is now known as An Cailín Ciúin (The Quiet Girl) has become a huge hit in Ireland and across the world and is the most successful Irish language film ever. It received numerous awards and was nominated for the 95th Academy Awards in the ‘International Feature Film’ category of the Oscars. An Cailín Ciúin is supported by TG4’s Cine4 scheme, an exciting initiative that has boosted several new films in Irish in recent years. Screen Ireland and the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland also provided assistance. Pirate.is is proud to have contributed to the film’s success in a small way and we are delighted that Irish pirate radio audio from our archive has been heard at film festivals and cinemas throughout the world as an authentic representation of the cultural and audio history of Ireland in the 1980s.

Pirate.ie proudly supports An Cailín Ciúin

To mark the occasion, we have adapted a 1985 poster by the then new Dublin pirate station Q102, which used the tagline ‘the Quiet Storm’ in its early months on air. Q102 was the newest ‘super-pirate’ in the city, a large and professional operation that went on to enjoy commercial success until it closed down at the end of 1988 in line with new broadcasting legislation. An Cailín Ciúin is also ‘an stoirm chiúin’ – the quiet storm – that has taken the cinema world by storm and made (radio) waves in Ireland and abroad.

Déanaimid comhghairdeas ó chroí le Colm Bairéad, an léiritheoir Cleona Ní Chrualaoich agus aisteoirí agus criú uile an tsárscannáin An Cailín Ciúin. Tá ‘stoirm chiúin’ spreagtha agaibh i saol na scannánaíochta agus na Gaeilge in Éirinn agus ar fud na cruinne agus táimid fíorbhródúil asaibh.  

Robbie Robinson 1940-2021

Robbie Robinson 1940-2021
Robbie Robinson as pictured in the Sunshine Review 1985.

The death of Robbie Robinson (aka Dale) yesterday at the age of 81 marked the passing of one of the giants of pirate radio since the 1960s and of Irish pirate radio in the 1980s. The owner of Sunshine Radio, one of the country’s most successful and popular stations, Robbie was widely tipped to get one of the Dublin licences in 1989 but it was not to be. Many former pirates lost out in the lean new era of independent radio but the rejection of Sunshine’s application was arguably the biggest shock of all.

‘Desiderata’, the title track of a 1971 album by Les Crane, is a poem deeply associated with Sunshine Radio because it was used as a reflection at the end of broadcasting every night. A generation of radio listeners in Dublin and beyond will remember listening to ‘Desiderata’ under the covers as their favourite station bade them good night. We present it here as a poignant tribute to a man whose dedication and imagination changed the direction of Irish radio.

Click here to listen to all of our recordings of Robbie Robinson. May he rest in peace.

New donations to Pirate.ie

New donations to Pirate.ie

We thank Barry Dunne, David Lynch, Eddie Caffrey, John Breslin and Kevin Branigan for their recent donations of recordings to Pirate.ie. Our thanks is due also to Ian Biggar for his ongoing collaboration and support.

Stations of the 1980s covered in recent donations include BLB, Boyneside Radio, Community Radio Drogheda, Capitol Radio, Energy 103, Hope FM, Kilkenny Community Radio, KISS FM (Monaghan), KISS FM (Stillorgan), LLCR, Phoenix Radio, Pulsar 98, Q102/SuperQ, Radio Dublin, Radio Nova, Smile FM, Southside 95, Sunshine Radio and Tallaght Community Radio.

Among the stations of the 1990s featured in these new recordings are Coast 105, Hot 107, Power FM, Radio Dublin and Sunset FM.

We look forward to posting these in our archive, along with background information and analysis, over the coming months. We are also continuing to work through previous big donations including the Leon Tipler Tapes Collection and the Skywave Tapes Collection, bringing you the best in Irish pirate radio since the late 1970s.

If you wish to donate original cassettes, pirate memorabilia or digitised recordings to us, get in touch.

John Walsh & Brian Greene

Pirate.ie featured on Community Radio Castlebar

Pirate.ie featured on Community Radio Castlebar
Brian Greene with some of the Pirate.ie collection of archival recordings.

Pirate.ie was featured on Castlebar’s community radio station, CRC FM this week. Brian Greene spoke to Angela Faul on The Chatroom on Thursday 12th November 2020 about our ongoing work in documenting and sharing Ireland’s pirate radio history.

You can listen to CRC FM in the Castlebar area on 102.9 FM or online here.

Documentary: Heartland Pirates

Documentary: Heartland Pirates
Heartland Pirates publicity image (courtesy of Irena Djak Cvetkovic, Athlone Community Radio).

We are delighted to host a documentary about the 1980s pirates in and around Athlone, Co. Westmeath with the kind permission of Athlone Community Radio.

‘Heartland Pirates’ was originally broadcast on 2nd November 2020 from 1700-1755 and features stations such as Signal 102, Midland Radio and Radio Carol Ann. Among those taking part are many of those involved in the original Athlone pirates including Pete Casey, TR Dallas, Noel Lackey, Roy Jennings, Peter Mooney, Geraldine O’Sullivan, Barry Flynn, Val Beaumont and Gerry O’Reilly. Our own interview with Gerry is available here.

‘Heartland Pirates’ was edited and produced by Athlone Community Radio manager Irena Djak Cvetkovic. The documentary was supported by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland with the television licence fee. For further information, click here.