Lunchtime on Liberties Local Community Radio

Lunchtime on Liberties Local Community Radio
LLCR studios in Weaver Square in 1987 (Anoraks Ireland Collection)

Liberties Local Community Radio (LLCR) began broadcasting on 4th April 1986 from the Liberties area of south-central Dublin. Initially community-focused, LLCR later became a popular commercial station that carved out a loyal listenership in the crowded Dublin radio market. Standards varied with some presenters very young and inexperienced but several big names passed through the doors also, including Tony Allen (RIP), Peter Madison (RIP), Kieran Murray and Teena Gates. LLCR went through a number of name changes including Liberties Radio, Liberty Radio and Liberty 104 during its nearly three years on air. Initially on 1035 kHz AM and 96.7 FM locally, the station later moved to 104.5 and 107 FM and extended its coverage across the city. It closed suddenly on December 20th 1988, more than a week before the deadline imposed by the new broadcasting legislation.   

Lunchtime on Liberties Local Community Radio
Original cassette inlay from Anoraks Ireland Collection.

This recording of LLCR was made on Wednesday 9th July 1986 from 1143-1231 and 1258-1346. Tommy Matthews is the DJ until 1200 and he is followed by John Keogh with the lunchtime show (the label above is inaccurate). There is the usual mix of mostly chart music and chat interspersed by adverts for local businesses, mostly in the Liberties. The first part was recorded from 107.1 FM and the second from 104.5 FM and the tape is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.

Mid-morning on KLAS Radio

Mid-morning on KLAS Radio
KLAS flyer (courtesy DX Archive).

KLAS Radio was one of the second wave of 1990s pirates to defy the new broadcasting legislation that came into force in the Republic of Ireland at the beginning of 1989. It broadcast from 1991 until 1993 from just south of the border in Co. Monaghan, a short distance from Aughnacloy in Co. Tyrone. This recording was made shortly after KLAS began broadcasting. There are adverts for businesses mostly in Aughnacloy, linked to a local festival that was in full swing at the time. An advertising promo says that KLAS is broadcasting from the deliberately vague ‘North of Ireland’ and gives phone numbers for both sides of the border. KLAS had a good signal locally on AM but reception was hampered further afield by the presence of local radio stations in the north of England on the same or adjacent frequencies. There was no link between KLAS and the easy-listening station of the same name in Dublin (1986-1988), established by the late Hugh Hardy of Radio Carousel.

The recording was made from 828 kHz AM on 19th July 1991 between 1105-1150 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection. The DJ is Michael Barry and he plays a mixture of pop and oldies. Audio quality is good but there is some background signal noise in places and a technical issue with the recording towards the end.

Afternoon Groove on South Dublin Community Radio

Afternoon Groove on South Dublin Community Radio

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.

Recording from 1242 kHz courtesy of Ken Baird

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. 

Afternoon Groove on South Dublin Community Radio
Original cassette inlay from Anoraks Ireland Collection.

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.

Summer evening requests on Radio Vera

Summer evening requests on Radio Vera
Radio Vera flyer from Anoraks Ireland Collection.

Radio Vera (1987-1988) was one of many stations broadcasting from Limerick during the pirate era. Its roots were in another Limerick pirate, Radio Munster, and both pirates shared a premises in the city centre. On air for a little over a year, Radio Vera aimed at younger listeners whereas Radio Munster concentrated on an older demographic. It claimed to be reaching a large area of the southwest of Ireland on FM.

This recording of Radio Vera was made in the summer of 1988 and features an evening show of chart music and requests presented by Peter Gregory, who worked previously on West Country Radio in Abbeyfeale, west Co. Limerick. There are news headlines, a rock trivia slot and adverts for local business along with an advertising promo featuring the voice of station founder Will Rogers (aka Bernard Rooney).

Summer evening requests on Radio Vera
Original cassette inlay from Anoraks Ireland Collection.

The tape was made from 97.7 FM from 1853-1940 on Tuesday 21st June 1988 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.

Border series: Evening requests and hits on Riverside 101

Border series: Evening requests and hits on Riverside 101
Riverside 101 advertising card (courtesy Ian Biggar).

Riverside 101 was one of the second wave of pirates that defied the new legislation in 1988 that was supposed to silence unlicensed radio in Ireland. It was set up by Frankie McLoughlin and managed by Steve Marshall, both of whom had worked at Radio Nova (1986-88) in Fahan on the Inishowen peninsula in Donegal. Previously, Steve had co-founded Galway pirates WLS and Coast 103.

Broadcasting from just over the border in Bridgend, Co. Donegal, Riverside initially focused on Derry City before expanding to cover a larger area of the northwest. It was first noted on 101 FM by Rodney Neil in May 1989 but was broadcasting overnight only from 11pm to 7am at the time. In a letter to Ian Biggar, he said that the station was running quite a few adverts. It was thought that the signal strength was around 100 watts initially. The final edition of Anoraks UK Weekly Report on 9th September 1989 noted that Riverside could be received in Derry City but not much further afield. Around this time the station began a 24-hour schedule.   

In an entry on DX Archive, Steve Marshall said that he formatted Riverside and ran a £500 giveaway in the early days to attract listeners. He recalled that the station received a visit from the Department of Communications in Dublin but that they could not carry out a raid because the transmitter was on a raft in a river straddling the border and the studios were located in Derry.

Riverside 101 took over the transmitter of the other pirate WABC on 101.7 in Shroove, Co. Donegal after it closed down on 1st April 1991. That gave the station coverage in the likes of Coleraine as far as the Causeway Coast, whereas before that Riverside aimed at Derry. An advertising leaflet published after the expansion of coverage claimed 500,000 potential customers in the northwest. The station had 22 staff at that time and claimed a 42% market share in Derry, Donegal and Tyrone.

Riverside 101 closed just after 1am on 21st October 1993 after receiving a licence to broadcast to the northwest region. The transmitter on the border on 100.1 was switched off but the station returned the following morning at 6am from the same studio as Q102 and later became part of Northern Ireland’s Q Radio network. Interestingly the former WABC transmitter on 101.7 remained on air relaying Q102 but was eventually moved to 102.9.

Border series: Evening requests and hits on Riverside 101
Original cassette inlay from Anoraks Ireland Collection.

This recording of Riverside 101 is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection and was made from 100.1 FM from 2130-2306 on Thursday 28th December 1989. The DJ is Mike Henry and there are plenty of requests from listeners on both sides of the border and adverts from the northern side, reflecting the new legislation in the Republic that penalised businesses advertising on pirate radio. There is some distortion in the audio either due to the recording itself or an issue with transmission. Thanks to Ian Biggar for assistance with research.