1988 closedowns Archives - Page 2 of 5 - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

26th December 202119th December 2022

Closedown of Boyneside Radio as heard on shortwave

Boyneside Radio, based in Drogheda in Co. Louth, was a successful local and eventually regional radio station broadcasting to the northeast of Ireland and beyond from 1978-1988. This is a recording of the final few hours of Boyneside on the afternoon of its last day on air, 31^st December 1988. Rather than its familiar medium wave and FM frequencies, this was taken from 6231 kHz shortwave, the transmitter of Radio Rainbow International which was linked to Boyneside and used specially for the occasion. Reception ranges from fair to poor with a heterodyne in the second half of the recording but it gives a sense of how shortwave listeners, especially those outside Ireland, experienced the closedown.

The recording runs from 1348-1502 and features Eddie Caffrey on air with a host of Boyneside DJs and other staff. There are also plenty of farewell messages from loyal listeners who will miss their local station. We thank John Breslin for the donation.

The history of Boyneside is already well documented on this site and all recordings of the station can be found here. For a comprehensive account of the 1988 closedowns, see the Radiowaves site.

24th December 202124th December 2021

Closedown of Ballina’s Twin County Radio

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The town of Ballina in north Mayo got its first pirate radio station late in 1980 when Alternative Radio West (ARW) came on the air. A leading light in ARW – and later Ballina pirates such as Castle Radio and Westward Radio – was the late Tommy Murphy from Enniscrone in Co. Sligo. According to Magic and Madness, a history of Midwest Radio by James Laffey, Tommy famously checked with the Gardaí before switching on his transmitter so that he wouldn’t use the same frequencies! In fact, it is said that no-one ever considered raiding Tommy’s stations because he was so popular in Ballina.

Tommy’s final pirate outing was Twin County Radio, which came on the air in the spring of 1988 and served a large area of North Mayo and neighbouring Sligo, hence the name. TCR broadcast on 95 FM, was backed by local businessmen and had a full-time staff of six. It closed on New Year’s Eve 1988, along with all but the more daring pirate stations.

This is the final hour-and-a-half of TCR, recorded from 1640-1810 on 31^st December 1988. DJs Paul Stevens, Brenda Murphy, Siobhán Caffrey, Jimmy Whittington and John McIntyre say their goodbyes and Tommy Murphy hosts the final hour. There are several references to how the pirates launched the careers of many Irish country music stars in the 1980s. Twin County Radio closes down with the Angelus, a recorded message from Tommy Murphy and the national anthem. Tommy was also heard on Independent Radio Mayo and on the pirate and licensed Midwest Radio and died in 2012.

We thank John Breslin for his donation of this recording. For a comprehensive account of the 1988 closedowns, see the Radiowaves site.

24th December 202114th November 2023

Closedown of Raidió Luimní, Christmas Eve 1988

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When it closed just before Christmas in 1988, Raidió Luimní brought ten unique and memorable years of broadcasting to a close. While many Limerick stations came and went, Raidió Luimní was a constant presence in the city throughout the pirate era and had a huge following due largely to the unconventional style of its owner, John ‘the Man’ Frawley. It also had listeners well beyond Limerick city, thanks to an efficient Irish-made transmitter on 1125 kHz.

The station closed down a week earlier than other the pirates at the end of 1988, leaving the air at 0130 on Christmas Eve. This recording is of the final half-hour of the station with Alf de Lacy who says a long goodbye to Raidió Luimní listeners and staff and even thanks local Gardaí for their hard work over Christmas! A few bars of Denis Allen’s song ‘Limerick, You’re a Lady’ are played and then the national anthem brings Raidió Luimní to the end of its colourful life.

The recording was made from 103 FM from 0100-0130 on 24^th December 1988. We thank John Breslin for the donation. You can listen here to John the Man’s final show.

A comprehensive overview of the 1988 closedowns is available on the Radiowaves site.

23rd December 202124th December 2021

John the Man bids farewell on Raidió Luimní

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Raidió Luimní was one of the longest-serving pirates in the country, broadcasting from Limerick City from 1978 to 1988. It had a large following of loyal listeners in counties Limerick, Tipperary and Clare due to the eccentric broadcasting style of its owner, the late John ‘the Man’ Frawley. Raidió Luimní was a community station with a difference featuring all sorts of local characters and unusual programming. It was also one of the first stations to feature death notices, a tradition that continues on local radio today.

This is part of John the Man’s final show on 23^rd December 1988, the station’s last day of broadcasting. There are letters and requests from loyal listeners who are sad to see Raidió Luimní close and an emotional farewell from one of the more memorable pirate broadcasters of the 1980s.

The recording made from 1033-1118 from 103 FM and is kindly donated by John Breslin.

21st July 202114th July 2021

More shortwave DXing on Galway’s KFM

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This is another selection of undated excerpts from the DXers’ programme on Galway pirate KFM in the final months of 1988. Presenter Shane Keating chats to contributor John Breslin from north Co. Clare about shortwave DXing. John lists DX clubs and shortwave stations he has heard recently including Radio Budapest, Transworld Radio, Voice of Ethiopia and Radio Finland. Shane provides addresses of European stations so that listeners can request QSLs.

Shane Keating also presented a Saturday morning children’s programme on KFM and there are excerpts of this including phone calls from young listeners. The recording ends with Shane signing off for the last time on 31^st December 1988, the day that KFM closed and the Irish airwaves fell largely silent.

We thank John Breslin for his donation of this recording, which was made from 95.99 FM in north Clare. Reception is variable as it outside the core KFM coverage area.