Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

Gerard Roe on Radio Dublin Channel 2 (14 December 1983) — Radio Dublin Channel 2 studio (courtesy Gerard Roe).

The recording of Gerard Roe’s popular FRC programme on Radio Dublin Channel 2 was made at Christmas 1983, at the end of a dramatic year for Irish pirate radio due to a clampdown by the authorities. The programme includes a report about the recent raid on and closure of Community Radio 257 and the confiscation of equipment from Nova Television, Chris Cary’s shortlived experiment that rocked the media world. Ger says there was no need for Nova to enter the television market and reads a letter from Sunshine Radio boss Robbie Robinson who condemned the move as irresponsible. The show also contains archive recordings of Southside Radio from 1979 and KELO from 1981. There is an advert for Anoraks Ireland voiced by Kieran Murray.

The recording was made on 14^th December 1983 from 98.7 FM between 2003-2100 and contains some edits. Radio Dublin Channel 2 also broadcast on 1152 kHz AM, announcing 260 metres. The tape is from the Skywaves Collection. Radio Skywave International was a 1980s shortwave station broadcasting from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin.

11th September 20239th September 2023

Moonlight Radio on test transmission

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Moonlight Radio was a shortlived hobby station broadcasting on AM in 1983 from the Glasnevin area of north Dublin. According to former DJ Joe Doyle in an interview with Pirate.ie, Moonlight was set up by Damian McTiernan and used just 50 watts of power. The name was due to the fact that it only came on air at night.

This recording was made from 266 metres/1125 kHz and features Dominic Heary who gives out a phone number for requests and reception reports. Dominic says that the station is back for another test broadcast but is on reduced power and this is confirmed by night-time fading heard during the recording, which was made only about 10km away. The same frequency was used by Radio Carousel in Dundalk and the co-channel interference at times may be from the Louth station.

Unusually there are no times or date on the recording but we estimate it to be from December 1983. The tape is from the Skywaves Collection. Radio Skywave International was a 1980s shortwave station broadcasting from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin.

8th September 20239th September 2023

Community Radio Avalon from south Dublin

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Community Radio Avalon was another short-lived station broadcasting from the southside of Dublin in the mid-1980s. It is not listed in DX Archive logs from 1985 but is thought to have begun broadcasting from the Dún Laoghaire area late that year. The Anoraks UK Weekly Report of 8^th December 1985 reported that a Radio Avalon had been heard on 98.5 and announcing various AM frequencies before eventually appearing on 1116 kHz. Competition for AM space was fierce in the unregulated world of Dublin pirate radio and the Weekly Report of January 5^th 1986 reported that both KISS FM and Radio Avalon were on the same AM frequency at different times and sometimes at the same time! There are references to Radio Avalon on FM only in early 1986 but on 23^rd March, Weekly Report said it had closed down.

In this recording there is only one link from DJ Robbie Keane and otherwise it consists of continuous music with generic station idents. The tape was made from 98.3 FM, announced as 98.5, from 1432-1520 on 2^nd December 1985 and is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Radio Skywave International was a 1980s shortwave station broadcasting from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin.

6th September 202312th August 2023

Radio Dublin broadcasts World Music Radio

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Radio Dublin regularly carried programming from the former Dutch pirate station World Music Radio (WMR). WMR broadcast without a licence from 1967 until 1973 when it was raided by the Dutch authorities. In the 1970s and 1980s, its programmes were carried by stations in Andorra, Italy, France and Radio Dublin in Ireland. WMR has been revived on a number of occasions over the past 25 years and has broadcast from Denmark on shortwave. It currently operates an AM licence in Copenhagen. Read more about the station history here.

This relay of WMR via Radio Dublin is from 1985 and features station pioneer Lee Alvin followed by Danish DJ Oscar Hansson with European hits in various languages. A mailing address in Amsterdam is given and there are adverts for the World Radio and Television Handbook. Radio Dublin is mentioned as one of the station’s partners. A break in audio about 25 minutes into the recording is possibly due to the change-over of a cassette.

The tape was made from 1200-1247 on 9^th June 1985 from 1188 kHz AM and is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Radio Skywave International was a 1980s shortwave station broadcasting from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin.

4th September 202312th August 2023

Daytime programmes on Radio Dublin FM

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Radio Dublin, one of Ireland’s longest running pirate stations, split its services for a number of years to air specialist programmes such as niche music or current affairs. Radio Dublin Channel 2 was set up in April 1980 with this purpose but suffered from ongoing technical problems and lack of investment. One such issue was bleedthrough from the main AM transmitter and such interference can be heard clearly in this recording, to the extent that the programme becomes inaudible towards the end. The DJ is Gerry Marsden who also spent periods as Radio Dublin manager. The usual chart music is interspersed with adverts for local shops and a horoscopes section. Interestingly, ‘Radio Dublin FM’ and not ‘Channel 2’ is announced on air so it is not clear if this is a new service service or a rebranding of Channel 2. Another item of note is that no phone requests can be taken until the evening, a serious obstacle to building listener engagement.

The recording was made from 98.7 FM from 1109-1157on 7^th March 1984. It is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Radio Skywave International was a 1980s shortwave station broadcasting from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin.