Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive - Page 14 of 160

Listeners complain on Radio Dublin following 1983 raids — A march on 27th May 1983 following the raids on pirate radio (courtesy Joe King).

Following the raids by the Department of Posts and Telegraphs on the large Dublin stations Radio Nova and Sunshine Radio, fear spread through the pirate radio world in Dublin and further afield. Many stations closed temporarily as a precaution and Radio Leinster left the airwaves for good. It was expected that the long-running Radio Dublin in Inchicore would be the next to be raided and the premises and equipment were secured as a precaution. During Thursday 19^th May, the date of Radio Nova’s official closedown, Radio Dublin opened its phone lines and studios to listeners concerned that they were to lose their favourite pirate stations.

This recording of that afternoon captures both the growing sense of panic among the pirates and the deep loyalty of listeners to Radio Dublin. First up is DJ Damien McCloskey who chats to other DJs and listeners both in studio and by phone, all of whom express their anger at the Department of Posts and Telegraphs. A protest march to support local radio is announced for the following week and there are references to the demise of Radio Leinster and the forthcoming Nova closedown. There are plenty of technical glitches and the Department is accused of jamming the phone lines preventing listeners from getting through. At 4pm Seán Day (Murphy) takes over and continues in the same style.

Audio quality is fair with some cassette degradation and wobble. The recording was made on 19^th May 1983 from 1188 kHz, announcing 253 metres, and there is ample use of the iconic Radio Dublin 253 jingle package and station theme ‘I Like It’ by the Da Band. Radio Dublin was not on FM that day, probably as a precaution against removal of transmission equipment. Part 1 of the recording above begins at 1510 and Part 2 below at 1608 but there are minor edits in both.

Part 2 from 1608 with Seán Day

The recording is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Radio Skywave International was a 1980s shortwave station from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin.

11th September 20239th September 2023

Moonlight Radio on test transmission

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Moonlight Radio was a shortlived hobby station broadcasting on AM in 1983 from the Glasnevin area of north Dublin. According to former DJ Joe Doyle in an interview with Pirate.ie, Moonlight was set up by Damian McTiernan and used just 50 watts of power. The name was due to the fact that it only came on air at night.

This recording was made from 266 metres/1125 kHz and features Dominic Heary who gives out a phone number for requests and reception reports. Dominic says that the station is back for another test broadcast but is on reduced power and this is confirmed by night-time fading heard during the recording, which was made only about 10km away. The same frequency was used by Radio Carousel in Dundalk and the co-channel interference at times may be from the Louth station.

Unusually there are no times or date on the recording but we estimate it to be from December 1983. The tape is from the Skywaves Collection. Radio Skywave International was a 1980s shortwave station broadcasting from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin.

8th September 20239th September 2023

Community Radio Avalon from south Dublin

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Community Radio Avalon was another short-lived station broadcasting from the southside of Dublin in the mid-1980s. It is not listed in DX Archive logs from 1985 but is thought to have begun broadcasting from the Dún Laoghaire area late that year. The Anoraks UK Weekly Report of 8^th December 1985 reported that a Radio Avalon had been heard on 98.5 and announcing various AM frequencies before eventually appearing on 1116 kHz. Competition for AM space was fierce in the unregulated world of Dublin pirate radio and the Weekly Report of January 5^th 1986 reported that both KISS FM and Radio Avalon were on the same AM frequency at different times and sometimes at the same time! There are references to Radio Avalon on FM only in early 1986 but on 23^rd March, Weekly Report said it had closed down.

In this recording there is only one link from DJ Robbie Keane and otherwise it consists of continuous music with generic station idents. The tape was made from 98.3 FM, announced as 98.5, from 1432-1520 on 2^nd December 1985 and is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Radio Skywave International was a 1980s shortwave station broadcasting from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin.

6th September 202312th August 2023

Radio Dublin broadcasts World Music Radio

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Radio Dublin regularly carried programming from the former Dutch pirate station World Music Radio (WMR). WMR broadcast without a licence from 1967 until 1973 when it was raided by the Dutch authorities. In the 1970s and 1980s, its programmes were carried by stations in Andorra, Italy, France and Radio Dublin in Ireland. WMR has been revived on a number of occasions over the past 25 years and has broadcast from Denmark on shortwave. It currently operates an AM licence in Copenhagen. Read more about the station history here.

This relay of WMR via Radio Dublin is from 1985 and features station pioneer Lee Alvin followed by Danish DJ Oscar Hansson with European hits in various languages. A mailing address in Amsterdam is given and there are adverts for the World Radio and Television Handbook. Radio Dublin is mentioned as one of the station’s partners. A break in audio about 25 minutes into the recording is possibly due to the change-over of a cassette.

The tape was made from 1200-1247 on 9^th June 1985 from 1188 kHz AM and is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Radio Skywave International was a 1980s shortwave station broadcasting from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin.

4th September 202312th August 2023

Daytime programmes on Radio Dublin FM

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Radio Dublin, one of Ireland’s longest running pirate stations, split its services for a number of years to air specialist programmes such as niche music or current affairs. Radio Dublin Channel 2 was set up in April 1980 with this purpose but suffered from ongoing technical problems and lack of investment. One such issue was bleedthrough from the main AM transmitter and such interference can be heard clearly in this recording, to the extent that the programme becomes inaudible towards the end. The DJ is Gerry Marsden who also spent periods as Radio Dublin manager. The usual chart music is interspersed with adverts for local shops and a horoscopes section. Interestingly, ‘Radio Dublin FM’ and not ‘Channel 2’ is announced on air so it is not clear if this is a new service service or a rebranding of Channel 2. Another item of note is that no phone requests can be taken until the evening, a serious obstacle to building listener engagement.

The recording was made from 98.7 FM from 1109-1157on 7^th March 1984. It is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Radio Skywave International was a 1980s shortwave station broadcasting from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin.