Airchecks Archives - Page 25 of 36 - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

21st November 20207th August 2021

Pop-up community radio: STYC Radio

Because radio technology was so accessible in 1980s Dublin, all sorts of groups could get involved including youth clubs and community associations. Another station which began under the Community Broadcasting Co-operative (CBC) banner was St. Teresa’s Youth Club Radio (STYC) in the Dublin suburb of Mount Merrion.

Following the usual CBC model, STYC Radio came on the air first in August 1983 to coincide with a local festival and was due to return the following summer but never did so. The station was back on 17^th August 1986 from the old Stella Cinema under the direction of John Marren and Greg Manahan.

There was a still a link with CBC through the FM transmitter which was supplied by Dave Reddy. Although output was only about 40 watts, the signal on 88 FM got good coverage because of the height of the antenna on the roof of the cinema which was only demolished recently. From 1986 STYC also broadcast on 963 kHz AM using the old Dún Laoghaire Local Radio transmitter, formerly Radio South County from Cabinteely in 1980.

The recording above was made on 24^th August 1986 and features the final day of STYC Radio that summer. A giddy presenter at the start has mic problems and is followed by Greg Manahan, one of those running the station. There are references to festival events including a kids’ party, car treasure hunt and double DJ disco that night. It’s an Irish music show and bootlegs of U2 are among the songs played. Given that the destructive storm Hurricane Charley hit Ireland that very night, it was just as well that this was STYC’s final day.

The short airchecked recording below is also from August 1986 and includes Kevin O’Leary & Ken Kelleher with their punk show followed by Greg Manahan. The voice of John Marren is heard on the advert.

The long recording is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Skywave Radio International was a shortwave station broadcasting from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin. The shorter clip is shared courtesy of Kevin Branigan. Thanks to Dave Reddy, Paul Murray and Kevin Branigan for background information.

18th November 20206th August 2021

Pop-up radio: Glasnevin North Community Radio

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The Community Broadcasting Co-operative (CBC) also ran a pop-up summer station in Glasnevin between 1982 and 1988 to coincide with the local community festival. Mick Nugent, who was also heard on other CBC stations, was in charge of the Glasnevin operation and it moved between different locations over the years. These included what was then the Nugent family home on Willow Park Grove, a caravan outside the local shops on Ballymun Road and Cuilín House, a Council-owned building in Albert College Park.

Dave Reddy of CBC told us that broadcasts on all stations were on 1512 or 1530 kHz with the exception of 1984 when frequencies on or around 1116 kHz were used. The original transmitter was stolen and never recovered but a new one was used from 1985 with the help of engineers Peter Gibney and John Thewlis. Output was about 100 watts and FM was added later in the decade. As FM reception improved, the AM transmitter was left in Sandymount at Dave Reddy’s house and linked to the FM signals from the various CBC stations.

This airchecked recording of Glasnevin North Community Radio was made between 1815-1850 on 27^th June 1983. We don’t have confirmation of the frequency. It features some well-known names in Irish radio history including Aidan Cooney who worked on several pirates including Radio Dublin, ARD, Treble TR, Sunshine Radio and Radio Nova. Since 1989 he has broadcast on commercial radio and television and is currently a presenter with Q102 in Dublin. The other familiar voice is Aidan Stewart (aka Leonard) who also began his pirate career in the late 1970s and joined RTÉ in 1991. He is currently director of the digital station RTÉ Gold.

The recording was made originally by the late Peter Madison. Thanks to Gary Hogg for the audio and to Dave Reddy and Mick Nugent for background information.

26th October 20207th August 2021

Northeast series: Radio Rainbow International (1985-1986)

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Radio Rainbow International was a high-powered shortwave pirate operated by Boyneside Radio DJ and engineer Eddie Caffrey from the summer of 1985 until the end of 1988. It was first logged by Anoraks UK in the west midlands on 21^st July 1985 on 6240 kHz with a strong signal and continued to be heard regularly on Sunday mornings from 1000-1300 for the next three and a half years. In contrast with other shortwave pirates from Ireland operating on low power, Radio Rainbow International put on a transmitter of more than 1 kW with plenty of compression and modulation. Reception reports were received from all over Europe and from as far away as Russia. As well as Eddie Caffrey, other Boyneside DJs Jim Agnew and Kieran Murray were also involved, with Kieran presenting a popular weekly FRC show giving the latest news about the Irish radio scene. In an interview with Pirate.ie, Kieran described Radio Rainbow as the ‘Radio Nova of shortwave’, such was its large coverage area.

Radio Rainbow logo as seen on a QSL from 1986 (courtesy of Ian Biggar).

As well as shortwave, Radio Rainbow broadcast on 1521 kHz AM with up to 1 kW output and there were also local FM broadcasts. From 1987 onwards, the station relayed the output of other pirates such as WLR in Scotland and Radio Sovereign in London. In 1988, Eddie Caffrey also relayed another UK station, Radio Fax, on 6220 kHz by day and 1611 kHz by night from another transmitter in the Drogheda area. You can hear an interview with Eddie about his involvement with shortwave stations here.

The recording above is part of Kieran Murray’s FRC show from 6^th April 1986. Below is a recording of Jim Agnew from August 1985 reading out a reception report from West Berlin.

The second clip below is of a Radio Rainbow jingle and multilingual station idents in French and German.

We thank Eddie Caffrey for sharing these recordings.

21st October 20207th August 2021

Northeast series: Michael Gerrard of Boyneside Radio

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Michael Gerrard was a well-known voice on late-night Boyneside Radio in the station’s later years and gained a large following on his Radio Romance and Night-Time Music slots. Like so many pirate presenters, Michael joined Boyneside when just a teenager and in this interview with John Walsh, he shares his memories of the station with us. After 1989, he went on to work with the local licensed station LMFM.

We also thank Michael for sharing with us two of his final recordings in the run-up to the closedown of Boyneside on 31^th December 1988. The first is an aircheck of the final Night-Time Music show on 23^rd December.

The second features the final half-hour of Michael’s programme on Friday 30^th December 1988, the penultimate day of broadcasting. Some of this has been airchecked.

Both recordings include a farewell message for Boyneside listeners voiced by Eddie Caffrey.

10th October 20207th August 2021

Northeast series: Boyneside Radio (1982)

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By 1983, the split in pirate radio in Drogheda was resolved, the short-lived television experiment was over and Boyneside was united again. This allowed it to focus on the core business of doing local radio at which it was best. Here are two short recordings giving a flavour of the station around that time.

The first recording is of an ad break during the popular traditional Irish ‘Green Scene’ show with Eddie Caffrey recorded on 30^th October 1983. The ‘Green Scene’ is still presented by Eddie on LMFM and is the longest-running programme on Irish commercial radio. The second recording is from 30^th November 1983 and counts down the weekly Boyneside Top 40.

Thanks to Eddie Caffrey for sharing these recordings.