Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

Border series: breakfast on Radio Star Country as heard in Norway — A 1980s photo of where an Irish receiving antenna was built in Bud, Norway (courtesy Svenn Martinsen).

Today we feature another recording of Monaghan station Radio Star Country made on the western coast of Norway. It features continuous music at breakfast time, including a promo is heard for “your own 24-hour a day country music station from Monaghan to wherever you are” but with no commercial breaks. The fact that there was no live DJ in a peak listening slot underlines how Radio Star Country sometimes failed to provide a core schedule in the post-1989 period.

Audio quality is fair at the beginning but deep fading occurs after about 20 minutes. There is some wobble but it is not clear if this was on the station’s side or is due to the degradation of the tape over time. The receiver is retuned to an unidentified UK AM station at the very end. The recording was made in Solsvik, Norway from 981 kHz between 0755 and 0840 on 29^th October 1994. The receiver used was a Drake SPR-4 with a 200-metre antenna facing southwest. Thanks to Svenn Martinsen for the donation.

4th July 202314th August 2023

Border series: continuous music on Radio Star Country as heard in Norway

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In 1994, Radio Star Country marked six years on air, five of them since the strict new broadcasting regime that was supposed to silence the pirates came into effect. This recording from that year features continuous country music interspersed with station idents. One promo describes Radio Star Country as ‘Your own 24 hour a day country music station from Monaghan to wherever you are’ and indeed thanks to the properties of AM radio propagation, the signal at times travelled well beyond the core listening area along the border and Northern Ireland.

Our recording was made at an unknown time on 14^th February 1994 from 981 kHz in Solsvik on the coast of western Norway. The receiver was a Drake SPR-4 with a 200-metre antenna facing southwest. Audio quality is fair at first with fading and co-channel interference later. The recording is kindly donated by Svenn Martinsen.

3rd July 20233rd July 2023

‘Dance Radio’ on South Coast Radio

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The fluid nature of pirate radio gave breaks to sometimes very young DJs, many of whom went on to carve out careers in broadcasting. John Ashford (real name John Buckley, RIP) was one of the younger part-time presenters on Cork station South Coast Radio, which came on air in spring 1982. Joining South Coast in the summer when he was aged only 19, John presented weekend shows including a Sunday afternoon request programme called ‘Dance Radio’.

In this recording, there are plenty of requests and commercial breaks include local businesses and larger companies. The voices of Siobhán Walls and Hugh Browne (RIP), both of whom went on to have careers in radio, are heard on adverts. Before joining South Coast, John worked in smaller stations Cork City Local Radio and Radio City.

The tape was made from 102.7 FM (announcing 104) on 22nd August 1982. Part 1 above runs from 1614 and Part 2 below from 1700.

Part 2 from 1700.

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

28th June 202314th August 2023

Border series: Sean Brady heard on Radio Star Country in Norway

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This DX-quality recording of Monaghan station Radio Star Country was made in western Norway in 1992. On air is Sean Brady with a drivetime mix of country music and requests, with adverts from Derry, Fermanagh Tyrone, Monaghan and Cavan, some of them read live by the DJ. There are promos for events in Northern towns Keady and Magherafelt but no news bulletin at the top of the hour. A Monaghan number is announced for requests.

As would be expected given the distance from the transmitter, audio quality is poor for the most part with fading later in the recording. It was made in Solsvik on the west coast of Norway from 1627-1705 from 981 kHz on 29^th October 1992. The receiver used was a Drake SPR-4 with a 200-metre antenna facing southwest. Thanks to Svenn Martinsen for the donation.

21st June 202321st June 2023

Border series: Don Allen heard in Norway on Radio Star Country

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Don Allen (RIP) was a familiar voice on the Irish pirate scene and did a stint at Monaghan station Radio Star Country in 1989 and the early 1990s. This recording of Radio Star Country features Don with his live afternoon American country music show, as received in Norway due to the magic of AM propagation. Don is also heard on promos and adverts, as is station founder and owner Gerry Byrne.

The recording was made from 1632-1645 on 17th January 1990 from 981 kHz in Solsvik on the western Norwegian coast using a Drake SPR-4 receiver with a 200-metre antenna facing the southwest and Ireland. Audio quality is poor with deep fading and the Algerian station also broadcasting on 981 kHz dominates for a time, all part of the fun of DXing. Thanks to Svenn Martinsen for the donation.