Airchecks Archives - Page 31 of 34 - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

9th January 20196th August 2021

Aircheck: Treble TR Radio

Treble TR was Dublin’s country and Irish music station and broadcast from 1981 until the end of 1988 on 945 kHz and 99.5 FM. This recording is from the 30th of December 1988, the station’s final day of broadcast. It begins just after 6pm with Aidan Cooney referring to the fact that Q102 had just gone off the air. The aircheck also includes a recording of Simon Dee of Radio Caroline fame criticising the Dutch & British governments’ approach to pirate radio and Aidan reminiscing about other Dublin stations. Aidan also talks to two people who had been involved in radio in Wicklow. Bray Local Broadcasting (BLB) had closed down earlier that week.

5th January 20196th August 2021

Aircheck: Liberties Local Community Radio

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Liberties Local Community Radio (LLCR) began broadcasting in March 1986 from Weaver Square in Dublin 8. It was run by Sammy Prendergast who was well known for installing aerials for pirate stations. LLCR broadcast on 1035 kHz AM using the old Capitol Radio rig which had been on 1017 kHz until shortly before then. It was also heard on 104 FM at a later stage.

In this aircheck from our own collection made on 30th August 1988, Teena Gates announces ‘Liberty 104’ and reads the news. Teena can still be heard on radio in Dublin today.

You can hear jingles from LLCR here.

4th January 20197th August 2021

Aircheck: Boyneside Radio

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Boyneside Radio from Co. Louth was one of the largest and most successful regional stations in Ireland during the 1980s. It broadcast for 10 years from 1978 to 1988 from Drogheda. During that decade Boyneside developed a series of additional transmitters and opt-out services in Navan, Kells, north Dublin and along the border aiming into Northern Ireland. This post contains a selection of airchecks and promos, beginning with a top-of-the-hour news ident from 1984.

Top of the hour into news from 1984.

The next two clips are of the 6.02 evening news and ads from 30^th August 1988. The news began at 6.02 to allow time for the Angelus. Boyneside was one of a small numbers of stations to broadcast the Angelus at 12 noon and 6pm. The presenter is long-time Boyneside newsreader Áine Ní Ghuidhir.

Finally is a promo seeking a new transmission site in Kells, Co. Meath. We have no date for this recording.

You can hear a panel discussion on the Louth pirates here and a separate interview with local veteran broadcaster Eddie Caffrey here. We also have a recording of how Boyneside covered the controversy about Radio Tara (to become Atlantic 252) in Co. Meath.

4th January 20196th August 2021

Aircheck: Radio Anita

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Radio Anita was a hobby station operated by Frank Williams (aka Frank Decker) from Howth in north Co. Dublin and broadcast sporadically in the late 1980s, taking advantage of the height offered by its site on Howth Head. Frank was also involved in Centre Radio in Bayside and Baldoyle, a youth station that operated mostly during school holidays from 1986 to 1988.

Here’s a short aircheck of Radio Anita from 1987 or 1988 (we don’t have a precise date) recorded from 94.6 FM. This is from our own collection.

2nd January 20196th August 2021

David Baker discusses the pirate scene on Radio Annabel

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Several temporary community stations came on air in the 1980s to celebrate local festivals in Dublin. Radio Sandymount, Radio Ringsend and Radio Donnybrook were all set up by Dave Reddy and broadcast on 981, 1116 or 1134 kHz. They were all affiliated with the Community Broadcasting Co-operative.

David Baker, who worked in a variety of Dublin stations in the 1980s, was also involved with the CBC network. In this recording from June or July 1984, David chats with Gerard Roe of Radio Annabel about the Dublin radio scene in 1984. Audio quality is poor as the recording is of a weak AM signal received in north Dublin on 981 kHz but recordings of these community stations are rare.

You can hear separate recordings of Radio Annabel here. There’s an interview with Dave Reddy of Radio Sandymount here and with David Baker here.