Open Free Radio Archive
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On October 20th 2018 over 100 radio anoraks gathered in the Ballsbridge Hotel Dublin. The purpose was to meet and record oral history of the pirate radio era.
Walter Hegarty talks to Gerry Mulvaney (aka Mooney) who worked overnights on Sunshine Radio 3-5am.
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On October 20th 2018 over 100 radio anoraks gathered in the Ballsbridge Hotel Dublin. The purpose was to meet and record oral history of the pirate radio era. In this interview, Tom O’Brien talks about his time on AM Dublin pirate Radio City. Radio City went on the air in late 1979 and broadcast on 1145, 1161 and 1165 kHz.
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Signal 106 was a hobby station from the southside of Dublin which broadcast at the end of the pirate era. It was set up at Christmas 1978 by the youthful Kevin Branigan and Mike Ormonde and broadcast from Rathfarnham then and during the following summer holidays, returning for a final run at Christmas 1988. Because its antenna was on a height, Signal got out well despite its low power on 106 FM, as indicated by the good reception across the city in Bayside where these recordings were made.
In the first clip we hear Graham Turner (aka Justin Leonard) and Dave Adams (aka Andrew Mangan). The top of the hour jingle is by Seán Ashmore who did many station idents in the late 1980s. The second and third clips feature Graham Turner. The date is 29th December 1988, the day before Signal closed down. These recordings are from the Pirate.ie collection.
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CAU FM was a short-lived station broadcasting on 103.5 FM from Foxrock in south Dublin from the summer of 1987 until the summer of 1988. Although more a hobby than a commercial station, it had a professional sound and slick jingle package and was run by Locky Butler who still works professionally in audio and sound recording. This is an aircheck of a longer recording in our collection from 1988 (unfortunately we have no date) featuring Locky Butler on air.
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Sometimes the ads ran for so long they became famous. The Red Corner Shop on Dorset Street advertised heavily on the Dublin pirates. This recording is from Radio Dublin in 1987.
The Red Corner Shop
— pirate.ie (@pirate_ie) October 1, 2018
Probably the most advertised shop on Dublin Pirate Radio in the 80s. With Windsor Car Auctions a close second. #radio pic.twitter.com/dqwKzNP6UT