A newspaper ad for a CCR giveaway on 25th March 1985 (courtesy of Seán Brady).
Generous giveaways are often associated with super-pirates such as Sunshine Radio and Radio Nova in Dublin, but Cavan Community Radio also had several high-profile competitions during its five years on air. In September 1984, CCR ran a competition for a sun holiday for two, inviting listeners to call the station if they heard three songs consecutively, ‘Walk on By’ by Larry Cunningham, ‘When Julie Comes Around’ by the C-60 band and ‘Cavan Girl’ by the Barleycorns. The 20th caller would win the holiday.
This recording was made from 819 kHz from 1242-1257 on 28th September 1984. Ollie Clarke is on air and the holiday competition is being pushed heavily. It is heard twice during the commercial break with one of the promotions featuring the voice of Don Allen.
Ollie Clarke in the CCR studio (photo courtesy of Seán Brady).
On Thursday 4th April 1985, CCR began broadcasting promos for another giveaway comprising a holiday and prizes worth £2,000. Four records, ‘You must be Joking’ by Lucky Numbers, ‘Baby don’t go’ by Sandy Kelly, ‘My Own Native Land’ by Pat Woods and ‘Breakaway’ by Ann Breen, would be played in that exact order, only once, between Thursday 4th April and Friday 26th April. On hearing the last beat of the last record, listeners had to phone CCR on (049) 32747 and, if they were the tenth caller, they would win a holiday for two in Spain. Thanks to Seán Brady for this information.
This recording is from the Leon Tipler Tapes Collection, donated to us by Steve England.
Ollie Clarke on Cavan Community Radio (photo courtesy of Seán Brady).
Cavan Community Radio (CCR) was an AM station serving the north midlands from 1982 to 1988. This is an edited version of the station’s history kindly provided by Seán Brady.
CCR began broadcasting on 747 kHz AM in the spring of 1982. The catch-phrase, ‘The Big One on 747’, soon became a household phrase in homes all over the north Irish midlands, as well as counties Fermanagh and Tyrone. CCR’s AM signal also reached a wide area of Northern Ireland and attracted advertisers from counties Fermanagh and Tyrone. Programming originated from Farnham Road, Cavan quite close to the AM transmitter site, so there was no need for an FM link from the studio. The music format was a mix of pop and country music. Initially, broadcast hours ran from 0800 to 2000 daily and were later extended to midnight.
QSL from CCR in 1985 (courtesy of Ian Biggar).
On Friday 24th January 1984, CCR moved into new custom built studios and offices, which were situated above the Musicland Record Store on Main Street, Cavan. CCR linked to the 747 kHz AM transmitter with a low powered FM transmitter on 98.1 MHz which was available locally in Cavan town. In May 1984, Dublin’s Radio Nova changed AM frequency, moving from 828 kHz to 738 kHz. As a result, CCR began to experience severe adjacent channel interference and a change of AM frequency was considered essential.
Sometime between May and November 1984, CCR moved from 747 kHz to 819 kHz. The new channel provided excellent signal coverage of counties Cavan, Monaghan and Fermanagh, along with Armagh, Leitrim, Sligo, Longford and Meath until the Dublin station Q102 decided to move from 828 to 819 kHz in early October 1985. The presence of two relatively high-powered stations only 100km apart on the same frequency continued to cause problems for both in terms of coverage area for the remainder of the pirate era. Depending on conditions and transmitter power from either station, CCR could often be heard underneath Q102 heading north from Dublin.
Information about CCR transmission in 1985 (courtesy of Ian Biggar).
In mid-May 1985, the CCR FM link on 98.1 MHz began to be jammed and the station had to move frequencies. Due to continuous jamming, CCR moved back to their former studios in Farnham Road, Cavan. With this move of premises, the FM link frequency was now lost and CCR became one of a select few Irish pirate radio stations to broadcast on AM only. The late ‘Daffy’ Don Allen, who counted CCR among the many Irish pirates where he worked, named the unknown person blocking the signal ‘Wammer the Jammer’ and even recorded a comedy song about him which he used to play over the airwaves. Don Allen moved to Radio West in Mullingar in September 1986.
Despite the coverage issue, at this time plenty of commercials were being aired and the station identified itself on air as ‘professional radio throughout the midlands and the northwest, CCR on 819 kHz’. The station had outside broadcasts including live commentary of the 1986 St. Patrick’s Day parades in Cavan. It also introduced a radio bingo game in association with Donagh Football and Social Club in Co. Fermanagh. Cavan Community Radio left the air on 819 kHz for the last time at on Saturday 31st December 1988.
The recording above was made from 98.1 FM from 1310-1341 on 21st September 1984. Ollie Clarke is on air and there is a promotion for a holiday giveaway. Ollie also worked with CCR, Channel 2 (Breffni Radio’s short-lived pop music service in Kilnaleck, Co. Cavan), Erneside Radio and Radio West. He has broadcast on licensed stations Northern Sound and Spirit Radio and is now a volunteer with Christmas FM.
This recording is from the Leon Tipler Tapes Collection, donated to us by Steve England.
Radio Dublin car sticker from the mid-1980s (courtesy of DX Archive).
Tony Christie was a familiar voice on many pirates in the 1980s including Liberty 104, Radio Dublin and KISS FM in Co. Offaly to where he moved in 1987. Here he is on Radio Dublin from 105 FM on Sunday 24th August 1986 from 1512-1600 with a show sponsored by the No Name Fashion Depot in Walkinstown. Along with regular live promos for No Name, the voices of Robbie Robinson and Tony Allan can be heard on ads. Tony Christie is now a broadcaster on Midlands 103.
This recording is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Skywave Radio International was a shortwave station broadcasting from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin.
Paul Claffey (left) with a contestant at Sunday Night Live in 1988 (photo courtesy of James Laffey).
Midwest Radio was one of the west of Ireland’s most successful pirate stations broadcasting initially for a few months at the end of 1978 and returning full-time from 1985 to the end of 1988.
Midwest was set up by local dancehall promoter Paul Claffey in the garden shed behind his parents’ home in Castlerea, Co. Roscommon. The first broadcast was on September 29th 1978 and the event was reported upon in the Evening Herald of that day. The station played pop and rock music and continued until early 1979. At the time, the pirates were taking off in Dublin leading to the establishment of RTÉ Radio 2 on 31st May which was supposed to silence unlicensed radio.
Claffey had worked on the dancehall scene all over Connacht throughout the 1970s and decided to concentrate on developing his business following the first outing of Midwest. Financial problems struck in the recessionary early 1980s and Claffey struggled with his new venture, the Midas Nightclub in Ballyhaunis, Co. Mayo. A visiting band suggested that he contact radio engineer Gerry Reilly from Co. Cavan who had installed dozens of transmitters for pirates around the country. Claffey later teamed up with DJ Chris Carroll who raised £1,500 for the transmitter which was installed by Reilly in what he described as a ‘haunted house’ near Ballyhaunis.
Midwest flyer from November 1985 (courtesy of Ian Biggar).
Midwest Radio returned to the air on 1332 kHz from the cloakroom of the Midas Nightclub on Monday November 25th 1985. The station broadcast from 10am to 7pm daily but had just two presenters, Claffey and Carroll, both of whom kept up their regular jobs. The first ad was for a local supermarket but after receiving a large electricity bill in early 1986, it was clear that the station needed a more stable income. Midwest closed down for two days while the presenters hit the road to seek more advertisers. The diet of music was Irish and country, hugely popular in rural Ireland in the 1980s but ignored by RTÉ to its cost.
Midwest grew rapidly and by Christmas 1986, commercial breaks could last as long as ten minutes per hour. In 1987, a second AM transmitter was installed by Gerry Reilly in Kiltimagh on 1233 kHz which brought the station to listeners in north Mayo. This was followed by FM transmitters in Achill Island to the west and Balla in the centre of the county. Claffey also launched a live weekly broadcast of a concert from the Midas, ‘Sunday Night Live’, which proved hugely popular with listeners. Busloads of people came from all over Mayo every Sunday night to get in on the action which included competitions and prizes. Claffey himself was regularly on stage at the Midas, as was retired Garda John Duggan who began his career at Midwest when still a serving member of the force. Duggan presented the final show on Midwest before its closure on December 30th 1988 and the station said its final farewell to listeners at a packed concert at the Midas.
John Duggan presents his final show in 1988 (photo by Frank Dolan).
There’s an excellent account of the station’s history in Magic and Madness: The Midwest Radio Phenomenon by James Laffey and we are indebted to that book for most of the information in this post. Midwest Radio was one of the few pirates to be licensed in 1989 and remains among Ireland’s most successful local stations.
This recording is from 98.6 FM on 20th November 1988 from 2128 to 2217. It features the lead-in to ‘Sunday Night Live’ with Johnny Oosten which includes a fantastic musical tribute to Midwest a month before its closure. This is followed by John Duggan hosting live from the Midas. We thank John Breslin for donating this recording and James Laffey for assisting us with sourcing photos.
A Radio Snowflake flyer from c. 1986 (courtesy of Ian Biggar).
Radio Snowflake was the original Christmas station, set up by Dave Reddy of the Community Broadcasting Co-operative (CBC) in 1982. The CBC rang temporary festival stations around Dublin in locations such as Glasnevin, Ringsend and Donnybrook and also broadcast Radio Snowflake around Christmas each year.
This recording was made from 1512 kHz AM on 15th December 1984 from 1345-1430. David Baker, a well-known voice of CBC and other pirates, is on air with his usual mix of easy listening music and community news. There is plenty of co-channel mixing, possibly from Wicklow Community Radio on the same frequency. 1512 or 1530 were the usual AM frequencies for CBC with various low-powered FM channels in operation. 99.9 MHz is announced in this recording.
David Baker continued to run Radio Snowflake online until 2019, using many of the original presenters. Christmas FM comes on air every year on a temporary licence in various cities and towns across Ireland. The recording is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Skywave Radio International was a shortwave station broadcasting from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin.
