Full recordings Archives - Page 71 of 118 - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

28th December 202128th December 2021

Closedown of West National Radio 3

This is the final programme on the Mullingar-based station West National Radio 3 on December 30^th 1988. Launched as Radio West in 1981, the station expanded its coverage beyond the midlands on AM and FM and could be heard from Dublin to Galway by 1987. The closing programme is the Country Jamboree, hosted by one of the big names of offshore and Irish pirate radio, the late Don Allen. Don is joined studio by a host of station staff, local business owners and country music artists.

Station owner Shaun Coyne thanks everyone involved and expresses optimism that Radio West will get a licence. He also comments on the costs involving in running the station, including the weekly £500 bill for the generator that kept the 10kW AM transmitter on air. Radio West was supposed to close at 9pm and as the show continues past the deadline, Don Allen jokes that the diesel powering the transmitter will run out!

There is also evidence of how pirate radio supported the Irish country music scene, with warm recognition from country music artists for Radio West’s support. This theme was repeated on many other rural pirate stations when closing down at the end of 1988. The recording above runs from 2032-2106 and the one below from 2106-2205. Both were made from 100.1 FM and are kindly donated by John Breslin.

Final hour of West National Radio 3.

For a comprehensive account of the 1988 closedowns, see the Radiowaves site.

28th December 202118th January 2025

Final day of KISS FM Monaghan

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This is a flavour of some of the final day of the Monaghan pirate station KISS FM that rocked the radio world along the border and in Northern Ireland during its short nine months on air in 1988. Other Irish pirates had tried and failed to break the Belfast market and in November 1987, engineer Miles Johnston decided to set up a high powered FM station right on the border with proper coverage of the North. KISS FM came on the air on AM and FM in March 1988 and quickly made a mark, much to the consternation of the local ILR station, Downtown Radio, in Belfast. Its FM signal was so powerful that it could be heard in stereo in Scotland and Downtown attempted to have the Monaghan station jammed and raided.

The recording above is of the final 45 minutes of KISS FM on December 30^th 1988 from 1720-1805. Tom Hardy (RIP), who worked previously on Radio Caroline, Sunshine Radio and Radio Nova, is in the DJ’s chair and is joined by Miles Johnston, Susan Charles and Denis Murray. In an echo of the famous Radio Nova closedown in 1983, Tom asks motorists to blow their horns at 6pm and they duly oblige.

The recording below is of part of the final shows of Owen Barry (Larkin) and Dennis Murray from 1132. There is an edit at the end of the recording.

Both recordings were made from 103.7 FM and are courtesy of John Breslin.

27th December 202126th December 2021

Closedown of Galway’s KFM

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KFM flyer (courtesy Ian Biggar).

KFM was the longest-running of the later Galway pirate stations, broadcasting from November 1986 until the end of 1988. It was first based in the village of Moycullen in Connemara and later moved into the city centre before returning to Moycullen towards the end of its run. The high transmitter site gave it good coverage over a wide area of Galway city and county.

This is the final hour-and-a-half of KFM on 31^st December 1988. The show is presented by Shane Keating, who was well-known to local anoraks because he presented a DX programme during the final months of the station. There are farewell messages and live requests phoned in by listeners and one of KFM’s founders Maureen Browne pays tribute to DJs, advertisers and supporters. It’s a low-key closedown compared to some other stations and KFM leaves the airwaves at exactly midnight following the national anthem.

The recording above is from 2238-2325 and the final 35 minutes are heard in the recording below. They were made from 95 FM in north Clare, outside the core reception area, so the signal is fair at times. Thanks to John Breslin for the donation. For a comprehensive account of the 1988 closedowns, see the Radiowaves site.

Final 35 minutes of KFM.

27th December 202127th December 2021

Closedown of Galway’s Coast 103

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This is the final 90 minutes of one of the more popular and successful Galway stations towards the end of the pirate era, Coast 103. Launched in mid-1987, by 1988 it had merged with Limerick station Hits 954, was calling itself Coast Hot Hits and could be heard on a string of AM and FM transmitters covering an area from Mayo to Cork.

The final evening on 31^st December 1988 was broadcast from Richardson’s Bar in Eyre Square, Galway and featured various people dropping in to share their memories of Coast 103. Seán Costello is heard first and is followed by closedown host Barry Williams who is joined by Tommy Kelly, Tom Cuffe, Shane Martin, Brian Davis and Keith York (RIP). The first recording above is from 2232-2318 and the second below from 2318-0004. Both were recorded from 102.47 FM and are kindly donated by John Breslin. Thanks also to Shane Martin.

Final 45 minutes of Coast 103.

26th December 202114th November 2023

Hugh Hardy on KLAS 98

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KLAS 98 (later Class) was an easy listening station which broadcast to Dublin from November 1986 until the closedowns of December 1988. It was set up by the founder of the Radio Carousel network, Hugh Hardy, and based first at a garage behind his home in Sutton in northeast Dublin. News bulletins from KLAS and overnight programming were relayed on occasion from Dublin to the Carousel stations in Navan and Dundalk. After Hardy stepped back in early 1988, KLAS moved to Dame Street in the city centre and was managed by David Baker. It then moved to Harcourt Street where it was taken over by television aerial salesman John J. May and relaunched as Class 98.

This recording from 98.5 FM is of Hugh Hardy presenting on St. Stephen’s Day, 26^th December 1986. News on the hour is read by a very young John Walsh, co-founder of Pirate.ie and the voice of the late Bob Gallico is heard on an advert. There are no time checks or references to St. Stephen’s Day in the links so this show could have been recorded for one of the automated 8-hour VHS tapes used by KLAS overnight. John Walsh has written his memories of KLAS here.

Part 1 of the recording above runs from 1637-1725 and Part 2 below from 1740-1828.

Part 2 from 1740.

The recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.