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All parts of Dublin had their own local stations during the pirate era, some limited to a small radius, with others aiming for coverage of larger areas of the city. One such station was South Dublin Radio that broadcast from 1983-1984 from the Dún Laoghaire area of the southside. Its origins were in South County Radio based in Cabinteely, also on the southside, first listed on 963 kHz AM in a DX Archive log in April 1982.
South Dublin Radio was first logged by DX Archive on 102 FM in July 1983. Our recording from that summer locates the station in Monkstown near Dún Laoghaire but Anoraks UK lists from October 1983 to February 1984 give Bray in north Co. Wicklow as the address and 102.1 as the frequency. This was in fact incorrect, as the station operator John Daly has confirmed that the only correct address was Pottery Road in Deansgrange near Dún Laoghaire. By May 1984, the station was noted on 927 kHz AM as well as 102.2 FM. The station had a low-powered AM rig on air for a time, with an output of about 80 watts. Listings from August 1984 to the end of the year give a frequency of 90.6 FM only, the change necessary due to the return of KISS FM on 102.7 in September. A short recording of South Dublin Radio was made in Scotland on 1242 kHz on 21st August but there are no other known logs of that frequency.
The Weekly Report of 25th November 1984 reported that South Dublin Radio was returning to normal after experiencing problems but it seems to have petered out around this time. John Daly told Pirate.ie that the station closed due to RTÉ Radio 2 taking up the same frequency. There was some variation in the name of the station and both South Dublin Radio and South Dublin Community Radio were noted, sometimes in the same recording. Some of the same DJs went on to the popular 1990s pirate DLR 106 (Dún Laoghaire Local Radio), that broadcast from the same area between 1991-2001.
This recording of South Dublin Radio begins with Tony Lewis on the Afternoon Groove show, who plays continuous slow music for the first half-hour. He is followed by Paul Davis with Drivetime and community news with Bernie Lyons is heard on the half-hour. There is a sense of a hobby station about the broadcast: technical issues, no adverts and young and inexperienced DJs with implausible names cracking in-jokes. Reference is made to both South Dublin Radio and South Dublin Community Radio during the broadcast. The tape was made on Thursday 4th August 1983 from 102.7 FM between 1533-1713 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection. Thanks to Ken Baird for the recording made in Scotland and to Ian Biggar and John Daly for additional information.