Shannonside Community Radio was a short-lived pirate broadcasting to Limerick city in 1987. Information about the station is scant but it appears that it started around February of that year and broadcast on 97.5 FM with an address at 37 Catherine Street in the city centre.
The first recording above is a series of airchecks and is undated, but estimated to be from March 1987. DJs include Leonard Scott, Mark Young and Johnny Reggae (John Dronay), who had previously worked on popular Limerick pirate Big L. Aspiring DJs are asked to send a demo tape to the station. The second recording below is from 2nd March 1987 and begins with the Wonderworth sponsored programme, presented by Johnny Reggae. Other DJs are Mike Patton and Liz Dronay, who possibly had a connection with John.
Recording from 2nd March 1987
There was plenty of competition in the Limerick radio market in early 1987. The bigger stations were Sound Channel and City Centre Radio, both aimed at younger listeners, and Raidió Luimní which focused on speech content and music for older cohorts. Shannonside Community Radio does not feature in listings by Anoraks Ireland from July 1987 so it appears that it lasted only a few months. It is not to be confused with the similarly named Shannonside Local Radio, that broadcast from north Kerry from 1987-1988.
These recordings are from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.
Nick Richards in studio (courtesy Lillian O’Donoghue).
Nick Richards, who had a background in British and offshore pirates, was heard on a number of Irish stations in the 1980s. This recording of Nick is from South Coast Radio in Cork not long after the station launched in spring 1982. At this time, Nick presented the Nightline programme in the early hours and in this recording, which starts around 2340, the musical choice is mellow. There’s a request for South Coast’s number one fan, Lillian McCarthy (O’Donoghue) who meticulously recorded programmes and took photos of the DJs and studios. Nick closes the station at 0100 and says that the next DJ will be Alan Reid (Henry Condon) with the breakfast show from 0700. There’s no date for this recording but we estimate it to be from late April 1982. It is partially edited and was made from 104 FM, although audio quality is fair as it seems the station wasn’t properly tuned in.
Micheál Ó hÉalaithe & Piaras Ó Gaora in the studio (source: ‘Raidió na Gaeltachta’ by R. Ó Glaisne).
At Easter 1970, Irish language pirate Saor-Raidio Chonamara (Free Radio Connemara) came on the air for the first time in Ros Muc in the Connemara Gaeltacht. Inspired by Radio Free Derry set up at the outbreak of the Troubles in 1969, a local radio service for the Gaeltacht was one of the demands of the Gaeltacht Civil Rights Campaign. One of those involved, Seosamh Ó Cuaig, wrote in the Connacht Tribune on 17th October 1969 that an all-Irish pirate station would be set up and that a transmitter could be bought for £50. With the assistance of an engineering student from UCC, Micheál Ó hÉalaithe, Saor-Raidió Chonamara began broadcasting on 1484 kHz (202 metres) on Saturday 28th March from a caravan in Ros Muc and stayed on the air until Sunday 5th April. It returned again in November that year for the Oireachtas na nGael festival, also held in Ros Muc.
Faoi Cháisc 1970, chuaigh an stáisiún bradach Saor-Raidió Chonamara ar an aer den chéad uair ó Ros Muc i nGaeltacht Chonamara. Spreagtha ag Radio Free Derry a bunaíodh ag tús na dTrioblóidí, bhí stáisiún raidió Gaeilge ar cheann d’éilimh Ghluaiseacht Chearta Sibhialta na Gaeltachta. Ina alt ar an Connacht Tribune ar 17 Deireadh Fómhair 1979, scríobh duine de na daoine a bhí páirteach, Seosamh Ó Cuaig, go mbunófaí a leithéid de stáisiún agus nach gcosnódh tarchuradóir ach £50. Le cúnamh ó mhac léinn innealtóireachta ó Chorcaigh, Micheál Ó hÉalaithe, thosaigh Saor-Raidió Chonamara ag craoladh ar 1484 kHz (202 méadar) Dé Sathairn 28 Márta ó charabhán i Ros Muc agus d’fhan ar an aer go dtí an Domhnach 5 Aibreán. Chraol sé den dara uair faoi Shamhain na bliana sin mar chuid d’Oireachtas na nGael i Ros Muc.
Within two years of Saor-Raidió Chonamara, Raidió na Gaeltachta was established under the auspices of RTÉ. It began broadcasting on Easter Sunday, 2nd April 1972. Many campaigners doubted RTÉ’s commitment to Irish and wanted Raidió na Gaeltachta to be under community control but the new station quickly gained listeners in the Irish-speaking areas. Initially only available on a part-time basis and on AM in each of the three main Gaeltacht areas (west Kerry, south Connemara and northwest Donegal), Raidió na Gaeltachta was extended nationwide on FM in 1973. It is now a full-time, national Irish language station.
Laistigh de dhá bhliain ó chraoltaí an tSaor-Raidió, bunaíodh Raidió na Gaeltachta faoi choimirce RTÉ ar Dhomhnach Cásca, 2 Aibreán 1972. Bhí amhras ar lucht an fheachtais faoi thacaíocht RTÉ don Ghaeilge agus theastaigh uathu an stáisiún a bheith faoi smacht an phobail ach níorbh fhada go raibh éisteacht mhaith ag an stáisiún nua sa Ghaeltacht. Ar fáil go páirtaimseartha agus ar an meántonn amháin i dtosach báire i gConamara, Corca Dhuibhne agus Tír Chonaill, leathnaíodh Raidió na Gaeltachta go náisiúnta ar an ardmhinicíocht in 1973. Is é an stáisiún lánaimseartha, náisiúnta Gaeilge anois é.
In 2020, RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta planned a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Saor-Raidió Chonamara but this was cancelled due to the outbreak of the pandemic. The station broadcast special programmes from Ros Muc on Easter Monday, 28th April 2022, including interviews with those involved in Saor-Raidió Chonamara.
This short clip is of Piaras Ó Gaora from Easter Sunday, 29th March 1970 and translates as: ‘You are listening to Saor-Raidió Chonamara broadcasting on 202 metres medium wave and at two minutes past six on this glorious Easter evening, it’s time for the news’. The clip is from the television documentary Splanc Dheireadh na Gaeltachta (2005, subtitled). Other historical material about the history of Saor-Raidió Chonamara is available on the Irish language website Cartlann Ghaeltacht Chonamara (Connemara Gaeltacht Archive), hosted by NUI Galway.
Peter Madison (seated) and John Kenny at South Coast Radio (courtesy Lillian O’Donoghue).
The late Peter Madison was a familiar voice on Irish pirate stations of the 1980s, including South Coast Radio in Cork, Boyneside Radio in Drogheda and Radio Nova, Magic 103 and Sunshine Radio in Dublin. In this recording, Peter can be heard presenting various editions of the South Coast breakfast show in early 1982 not long after the station’s launch.
Peter was a real professional and clearly put a lot of work into his shows. It’s all very up-beat and there are plenty of zany sound effects and corny jokes, some of which are a bit off-colour by the standards of today. Adverts are cut, but the voice of the other late great radio legend Tony Allan can be heard on some of them.
Cassette label from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.
The first part of the recording dates from 13th April but it is clear that a few editions of the show are included. Although the label refers to June, Peter Madison left South Coast in late April 1982 so this is a mistake. The recording was made from 104 FM in mono and audio quality is fair with some wobble in places. It is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson. You can find more material from the collection on Radiowaves and the Irish Pirate Radio Archive.
One of ABC’s founders Andy Ellis in the caravan (courtesy DX Archive).
ABC is recognised as one of Ireland’s super-pirates, broadcasting from Co. Waterford from 1982 to 1988. Its humble beginnings were in a caravan beside a carpet warehouse in the coastal resort of Tramore west of Waterford City. ABC was set up by four English DJs who had been on the Voice of Peace and British pirates, Andy Ellis, Stuart Clark, Clive Derek and Kevin Turner, the latter formerly of Suirside Radio in Waterford. ABC used a jingle package from WABC in New York, with the ‘W’ cut out. It began testing on 1st March 1982 on 729 kHz (before RTÉ Radio began using that frequency in Cork) and was launched on 3rd March but the signal barely reached Waterford City where advertisers were located. However, ABC announced ‘AM’ and ‘kHz’ from the start, marking out its sound as different from other stations still referring to metres and medium wave.
Commenting on a 1982 visit to the station, DX Archive commented that ABC ‘was obviously struggling at this stage, with an English staff in a foreign land, trying to make the locals believe that this type of radio was the way to go. In fact, it was an uphill battle that ABC eventually won and as time went past, ABC was to become one of the most professional broadcasters in Ireland’.
Stuart and Andy on the first day of tests, 01.03.82 (courtesy Brian Kennedy).
There were problems with FM at the beginning but 101 MHz was added later. Adjustments to the AM rig caused it and the studio to go on fire in the summer of 1982 and it looked like ABC was finished but it returned to the air on low power and plans began to acquire a bigger transmitter. At a cost of $5,000, a considerable amount for the time, a Gates BC1G 1kW transmitter was shipped from the US and a crystal was bought for the relatively clear frequency of 1026 kHz. Andy Ellis remembers that the new coverage area was extensive across Waterford and beyond. In mid-1984, ABC was sufficiently successful to warrant a move to better premises than the caravan and it rented three floors of a building in the centre of Waterford City. The AM aerial remained in Tramore and FM masts were brought into the city.
FM was now more popular and from 1985 on, ABC extended its coverage on that band throughout the region. By 1987, ABC had moved premises again in Waterford and had a very professional set-up in terms of studio equipment and space. The station was now fully registered for VAT, paid taxes and music royalties and had a member of the NUJ working in its newsroom. The government published legislation to licence local radio at the end of the year and ABC continued to expand, adding additional AM and FM transmitters in Wexford. Andy Ellis recalls that just as it looked that the station would make a profit rather than break even, it was clear that the government meant business and that the pirates would have to close down. ABC left the air a few days before the deadline, at 3pm on 29th December 1988, with a special programme on the station’s 6-and-a-half year history and closing remarks by Andy Ellis. It applied unsuccessfully for the Co. Waterford licence, which went to former pirate WLR.
Former ABC staff were involved in smaller pirates following legalisation in 1989 including Laser 89 and ABC Power 104 and many went on to work in licensed stations in the region and beyond. Read Andy Ellis’s station history here. The first recording above was made from 1246-1310 and 1330-1350 on Monday 29th March 1982. The DJ is Andy Ellis and news is read by Kate Davis. The second recording below is from 1355-1440 on the same day.
Part 2 from 1355.
Both were made in Waterford City just a few miles from the transmitter but the signal is quite weak. Thanks to Ian Biggar for assistance with research and for the recordings. Photo credits are due to DX Archive and Brian Kennedy’s Radio Blaa Blaa group on Facebook.
