Radio Rainbow International was a high-powered shortwave pirate broadcasting on Sundays from Co. Louth between the summer of 1985 and the end of 1988. It was operated by Boyneside Radio DJ and engineer Eddie Caffrey and several other Boyneside presenters were also involved. In an interview with Pirate.ie, one such DJ, Kieran Murray, described Radio Rainbow as the ‘Radio Nova of shortwave’, such was its high power output in contrast with other Irish shortwave pirates of the era. Using the tagline ‘broadcasting from the east coast of Ireland’, Radio Rainbow put out about 1 kW of power on 6240 kHz in the 48-metre band. The station received reception reports from all over Europe during its three years on air.
Original cassette label from Anoraks Ireland Collection.
This is a studio recording of the first broadcast of Radio Rainbow International on Sunday 28th July 1985. The DJ is Jim Agnew on his first shortwave broadcast. There are no times and the tape is airchecked. It was made by Kieran Murray and is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated by Paul Davidson.
Bob Gallico in the Magic 103 studio (courtesy Paul Buckle).
Magic 103 (103.5 FM and 1521 kHz although AM was never announced on air) was set up by Radio Nova in 1985 and was one of many examples of Chris Cary’s innovation in splitting AM/FM services to expand programming. Magic was a mostly easy-listening and talk service in contrast to the chart music format of Nova. Its first full day on air was April 29th 1985.
Image courtesy of DX Archive
‘ABC Network News’ was broadcast on both Nova and Magic, and the journalists also presented programmes on Magic. These recordings of the opening day begin with the segment above from 0900 with the shared news bulletin, followed by the first hour with Dave Harvey who describes Magic as the ‘new chat and information station for Dublin’. He invites listeners to call in and give their opinions on joyriders but the callers are often off topic and some of the conversations sound staged. There’s a news bulletin on the half-hour and a round-up of British news, strange for a station that was aimed at Dublin.
Original label from Anoraks Ireland Collection.
Part 2 below runs from 0945 and includes news with Bob Gallico (RIP) and then Bob’s own show, ‘Morning Magic’ from 1000. He promises chat, easy listening music, racing news, recipes, features, film scores and news about events around town. The first two segments are from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.
Part 2 from 0945.
Part 3 below is of the evening programme with Shane Mac Gabhann from 1823-1909. Listeners from around town send in their good wishes but one caller describes the musical selection as ‘ancient’ and wants more Lionel Ritchie. The main evening ABC Network News is read by Bernie Jameson and Mark Weller. Shane Mac Gabhann is now a newsreader on RTÉ, Mark Weller (Costigan) would become political correspondent on licensed national commercial station Today FM and Bernie Jameson continues to read news today. This recording is from the Skywave Tapes Collection and there is some breakthrough in the background, due either to a problem with recording or deterioration of the cassette.
Part 3 from 1823.
The final snippet is an undated airchecked recording of an evening show in the first few days of the station. Dave Johnson (aka Andrew Hanlon, later head of news at independent station TV3) is both presenter and newscaster. A listener in Co. Down says Magic is coming in ‘crystal clear’, evidence of how far the FM signal travelled on a relatively uncrowded band. Sound quality is variable on this recording (it may have been recorded from AM), which is from the Pirate.ie collection.
Part 4 from around 2000.
Magic 103 was short-lived and closed at the end of September 1985, citing financial difficulties. Its closure led to the worsening of a bitter dispute between the National Union of Journalists and Radio Nova that contributed to the main station’s demise in 1986.
Advert for Let the Bible Speak in the Northern Standard, 13.05.1999. Note the wrong frequency given!
Radio Star Country is distinctive from the few pirates that venture on air these days in Ireland. As well as its longevity, it stands out for its musical style – Irish and American country and gospel music – and its daily religious content. The station was sold on by Gerry Byrne in 1992 and after three further changes of ownership was taken over by Dr Albert Chambers from Portadown in Co. Armagh, founder and director of religious organisation World Vision for Christ. A letter from WVFC to a Swedish DXer in 2006 referred to Radio Star Country as ‘our radio station in Ireland’ and said that, as well as playing country and gospel music, ‘the major programmes are the Christian broadcast messages given by pastors of various denominations’. Dr Chambers himself was listed as presenting programmes on Monday and Thursday evenings.
The Radio Star Country website lists daily religious programmes including Showers of Blessing, Let the Bible Speak, New Life in Christ and Foundations of Faith, the latter presented by Albert Chambers. World Vision for Christ is registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales, whose website states that its ‘aim is to promote Biblical Christianity’ by a number of means, including radio ministry. Its income increased from £57,000 in 2017 to £114,000 in 2021.
This recording begins with the 15-minute religious programme Let the Bible Speak presented by an evangelical minister from Co. Tyrone. It is followed by a music show with Patsy Jordan (McDonald, RIP) who reads out requests from over a wide area including Antrim, Armagh, Cavan, Meath, Monaghan, Fermanagh and Tyrone. Long adverts for businesses in Monaghan, Armagh and Fermanagh are also heard. The tape was made in Troon in Scotland from 981 kHz from 1002-1048 on Monday 16th May 2005. Thanks to Ian Biggar for the donation and for background information.
Undated photo of Dunleer Soapbox Derby (source: Dunleer Parish on Facebook).
Soapbox derby competitions began in the United States in the 1930s and were revived in Ireland in the 1980s where they are often known as go-karting. The All-Ireland Soapbox Derby was held in Dunleer, Co. Louth in 1982 and sponsored by gravy company Bisto. Dundalk pirate station Radio Carousel was at the event and broadcast a special half-hour programme in the Carousel Tonight slot on Monday 16th August. Presented by Kieran Murray, the programme consisted of interviews with organisers and participants at the event, including with local TD Bernard Markey and a representative of Bisto. As the pirates gained listeners during the 1980s, political parties attempted to prevent elected representatives from being interviewed on the pirates but politicians knew that they would gain publicity if heard on their local station.
Kieran Murray in the Radio Carousel studio in Dundalk (courtesy of Kieran).
This is a studio copy of the programme provided by Kieran Murray. It is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson. Watch an RTÉ television report on the same event here.
Original cassette label from Anoraks Ireland Collection.
Smile FM began broadcasting from the suburb of Ballyfermot in west Dublin in January 1987 and continued until the pirate closedowns at the end of 1988. It was set up by former Radio Dublin manager Brian Paige and first noted around 94 FM by Anoraks UK in its Weekly Report of 11th January 1987. The edition of the following week reported that an easy listening format was planned originally but that Smile FM had opted for Top 40 music instead.
In this recording from about six weeks before the closedown of Smile FM, we hear airchecks of Saturday morning and evening shows. First up is Rob Davis from 10am with chart hits, adverts for small local shops and businesses and a community noticeboard. An announcement advises about the impending closedown of pirate radio and invites listeners to express their support for Smile FM. A promo is aired for a Sunday Anoraks Programme about the radio scene, a feature on various pirate stations of the era. Links from the drivetime show with Graham Turner are heard towards the end of the recording, featuring a more easy listening format. Station idents are voiced by Seán Ashmore.
This recording was made on 12th November 1988 from 94.3 FM by Kieran Murray, who is mentioned by the DJs. It is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.
