Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

14th October 20247th October 2024

Second last 78s Show on Radio Galaxy

Tony Boylan (RIP) was one of the leading pioneers of pirate radio in Ireland, first broadcasting in 1945. His best-known and longest-running station was Radio Galaxy, which first aired in the mid-1950s and subsequently broadcast from the late 1960s until 1986, mostly on Sundays. By focusing on underserved genres of music, Radio Galaxy was a unique sound among the Irish pirates. Following the closure of the station, Tony retired to the Isle of Man where he died in 2010.

This tape of Radio Galaxy is the penultimate Sunday broadcast from autumn 1986 and features the popular weekly 78s Show with its mixture of classical, instrumental, country and religious music. There are several requests from Tony’s loyal listeners around Dublin, many of whom were no doubt with him for decades.

The recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection and was made from 1512 kHz AM, announcing 196 metres, from 1204-1332 on Sunday 14^th September 1986. Audio quality is fair and resembles slightly weak daytime groundwave reception, so the tape may have been recorded outside the core reception area around Santry in the northeast of the city.

11th October 20246th October 2024

Breakfast show on Capitol Radio in 1979

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Capitol Radio was an innovative station broadcasting to Dublin in the 1970s and 1980s. Like other pirates of the era, it began as a part-time operation in August 1975, taking to the airwaves on Friday evenings and Sunday afternoons. After a raid in December, the station closed down for more than two years. Capitol returned on a full-time basis in February 1978 and offered an eclectic mix of music and talk until 1981.

This recording from summer 1979 features one of Capitol’s founders, Alan Russell, presenting the breakfast show. The musical mix is laid-back and includes oldies. Adverts for local businesses are aired and there is also a sales promo offering both radio adverts and graphic design for businesses wishing to advertise in local press. Alan is to hand over at 1100 to Chris Barry, another co-founder of Capitol.

The recording was made from 1332 kHz, announcing 226 metres, from 0907-0950 on 19^th July 1979. It is from the Leon Tipler Collection, donated to us by Steve England. Audio quality is variable due to cassette degradation over time.

9th October 20245th October 2024

Dublin bandscan from summer 1979

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English radio enthusiast Leon Tipler was fond of recording bandscans during his visits to Dublin in the late 1970s and early 1980s, giving us a unique insight into the sound of the AM and FM bands at the time. In this recording from July 1979, he tunes along both bands late at night and again in the morning, providing snippets of the pirates and RTÉ. Among the content captured here is Paul Vincent with a late-night phone-in on ARD (Alternative Radio Dublin), Vincent Stewart on the Big D and a science fiction show also on the Big D. There are extracts from Mike Murphy’s breakfast programme recorded from RTÉ Radio 1 on FM and part of the Big D breakfast show, again from FM. As the knob is turned along the AM band, some British stations are also heard, as well as other unidentified Irish pirates.

This undated recording is from the Leon Tipler Collection, donated to us by Steve England.

7th October 20247th October 2024

Summer breakfast show on ARD

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The English radio anorak Leon Tipler recorded many Irish stations during his visits in the late 1970s and early 1980s. This recording was made in summer 1979 and features part of the breakfast show on popular Dublin station ARD (Alternative Radio Dublin), by then established as one of the city’s leading pirates. The DJ is unidentified but could be Mike Moran. Adverts are heard for local businesses throughout the city and news is read on the half-hour. There is a short snippet of Radio Dublin at the very end.

The recording was made on Thursday 19^th July 1979 from 0827-0905 from 1161 kHz AM, announcing 257 metres. Audio quality is fair and there is some wobble due to cassette degradation over time. The tape is from the Leon Tipler Collection, donated to us by Steve England.

4th October 20243rd October 2024

Another Alternative Radio Dublin from post-1989

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ARD (Alternative Radio Dublin) was one of the biggest stations in the early years of the pirate era, first broadcasting in 1976 on 217 metres. It was set up by Declan Meehan, Mark Story and Davitt Kelly (RIP). Following a split at Radio Dublin, the late Don Moore (Dr. Don) joined ARD in 1977 and it moved to 1161 kHz (announcing 257 metres), next to its old rival on 253 metres. Competition between Radio Dublin and ARD forced up standards and led to greater professionalism among the pirates and a shift from hobby to full-time broadcasters.

It is said that imitiation is the best form of flattery so we were interested to discover a recording of another Alternative Radio Dublin, based in the north Dublin suburb of Bayside in the second wave of pirates following the new laws that came into force in 1989. This ARD was one of the occasional hobby stations operated by the people behind Radio Caroline Dublin, a long-running pirate that broadcast from 1989 to 2000 from the same part of Dublin. Brian Greene of Pirate.ie was one of the founders. From the same stable, ARD played indie/alternative music on weekday evenings between 10pm and midnight. All shows were pre-recorded rather than live and power output was about 30 watts on FM through a half-wave dipole with no elevation, so coverage was very local. It is not clear how often ARD was on air but it was most likely heard on only a handful of occasions in 1989/1990. Another more regular hobby station run by the same people was Suburban Radio, broadcasting in the same late-night timeslot before Radio Caroline became a more full-time operation. This recording of ARD features Dave Walsh (aka Daragh O’Sullivan) on air and was made from 94 FM from 2208-2338 on 24^th July 1990. It is from the Pirate.ie collection.

Radio Caroline Dublin and ARD/Suburban Radio had their origins in other local stations in northeast Dublin such as Centre Radio (1986-1988) and Big Beat Radio (1986). Radio Caroline broadcast on bank holiday Mondays in 1989 and on weekends in 1990/1991 before introducing a full-time schedule from 1992. It was one of the longest continuous pirates of the 1990s, a significant achievement given the new stricter legal regime in place.