Airchecks Archives - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

26th May 202523rd May 2025

Sunday night show on Radio Nova

This short recording of the successful Dublin station Radio Nova is from the run-up to Christmas 1982. It features Dave Harvey with plenty of requests on a cold Sunday night and news with Siobhán Purcell. The usual high-level adverts for brands and larger businesses are heard, reflecting Nova’s commercial success particularly in the busy pre-Christmas period. There’s also an advert for the Nova Park nightclub featuring musical events and gigs with Nova DJs.

The airchecked recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection and was made from 88 FM on Sunday 12^th December 1982. Radio Nova also broadcast on 819 kHz AM at this time.

23rd May 202524th May 2025

Sunday shows on Clonmel Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)

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CBC (Clonmel Broadcasting Company) began broadcasting on 14^th November 1981 and was one of the leading pirates supporting the community radio ethos, continuing on air until the end of 1988. These snippets from Sunday afternoon shows giving a sense of the variety of material on the station and its importance to listeners in south Tipperary.

First up is a hospital requests show with Mary Burke featuring mostly country and Irish music and ballads. This is followed by the Sunday Postbag presented by Billy McLellan (RIP) with a phone-in quiz for listeners. There are also public information notices about candidates in the forthcoming general election, provided by CBC itself rather than the political parties. These are voiced by Gerry Gannon, who was the managing director of the station. Use of pirate radio by politicians was a contentious issue throughout the 1980s.

The airchecked recording from the Anoraks Ireland Collection was made from 828 kHz AM (362 metres) on Sunday 24^th October 1982 between 1455-1655. Thanks to Jimmy Williams and Jonathan Ryan for assistance.

9th May 202530th March 2025

Rockabilly show on South Dublin Radio

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South Dublin Radio was a small pirate station broadcasting from Dún Laoghaire in south Dublin in 1983 and 1984. It was one of several such pirates that popped up for short periods from that area, run by enthusiastic kids looking for a break in broadcasting. The station changed its name to South Dublin Community Radio in 1984 but was gone by the end of that year. Some of those involved were behind the popular 1990s pirate DLR that broadcast from the same area.

This tape of South Dublin Radio features a rockabilly show presented by Scottie Moore. There are home-made liners but no adverts, reflecting the nature of the station, but requests come in from listeners around the Dún Laoghaire area. The short airchecked recording was made by Kieran Murray from 102 FM on Sunday 7^th August 1983 from 1200 onwards and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.

5th May 202530th March 2025

Sunday afternoon on Community Radio Fingal

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Community Radio Fingal (CRF) broadcast to the region of Fingal in north Co. Dublin between 1982 and 1988. A mostly community-oriented service, it was based initially at the Rockabill Hotel in the coastal town of Skerries and then moved to founder Brian Matthews’ house in the village of Loughshinney. At a later stage the station was based at the Swords shopping centre. CRF began broadcasting on 1584 kHz but later moved to the better channel of 1575 kHz. 189 metres was announced throughout.

This short airchecked recording from summer 1982 begins with an unidentified DJ and is followed by a double-hander with Debbie and Damien presenting a music and requests show. There are adverts for small businesses around Swords but in very low audio. The recording was made by Kieran Murray from 1584 kHz on Sunday 18^th July 1982 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.

2nd May 202530th March 2025

Sunday programmes on Capitol 98 FM

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Capitol Radio on 98 FM broadcast for a few months in the summer of 1982 and had big plans to develop a classic rock format for Dublin, based on a popular American format that many pirates tried to emulate. Despite the involvement of some big names on the Dublin radio scene, the experiment failed due to financial problems and Capitol closed down in September.

This recording from shortly after the launch on Capitol begins with a snippet of a new afternoon magazine programme presented by David Paul, who is followed by Steve Patterson. Adverts are scarce but there is an advertising promo that sounds like it was voiced by George Long (Henry O’Donovan, RIP). The twice-daily Capitol Car Chase feature is a mystery to us!

This airchecked recording was made by Kieran Murray from on Sunday 18^th July 1982 from 98 FM and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.