Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

6th April 202326th March 2023

Q102 prepares for Easter weekend 1985

By Easter 1985, new Dublin station Q102 was just over two months on air and already making waves as a professional and slick choice for listeners in the capital. In this recording from Holy Thursday that year, Chris Barry presents the Good Morning Dublin show including news, weather, sports, a birthday file, the papers and Hollywood gossip. News is read by George Long and there’s a promo for a £10 giveaway for drivers stuck in traffic who are listening to Q102. Chris Barry was a familiar voice on many Dublin pirates and subsequently had a long career in licensed radio.

This recording was made from 102 FM on Thursday 4^th April 1985 from 0640-0728. It is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.

5th April 202310th March 2024

Border series: Radio Star Country promotes country artists

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An important aspect of pirate radio history is how rural stations often supported country music artists from their own areas and advertised or organised local musical gigs and concerts. Pirate personalities often appeared at such events as DJs or comperes, underlining the symbiotic relationship between unlicensed radio and the live music industry. A recording of Monaghan station Radio Star Country from St. Patrick’s Day 2002 contains evidence of this dynamic. There are plenty of adverts for country gigs taking place in pubs and hotels in the mid-Ulster area, including one in Armagh where DJ Carol G. is to appear later that evening.

The recording contains plenty of requests from listeners and there is a competition for tickets to a country and gospel show. Adverts are heard from Armagh, Antrim and Monaghan. The tape was made in Scotland from 981 kHz on 17^th March 2002 from 1025-1100 and is donated kindly by Ian Biggar.

3rd April 20234th April 2023

Evening shows on Premier County Radio

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Premier County Radio was the new name given to Tipperary station Centre Radio in 1987. Based in Clonmel in the south of the county, Centre Radio had been set up in April 1986 as a youth-oriented offshoot of the long-running Clonmel Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). In this recording from 1988, we hear a flavour of two specialist evening shows on Premier County Radio.

First up is Brendan Kenny with oldies and he is followed by John Savage until midnight with a mix of country, folk and rock and roll. Requests from listeners are heard on both shows but there are no adverts. Part 1 above runs from 2116 and Part 2 below from 2202. The date of recording is 1^st November 1988.

Part 2 from 2202.

The cassette label logs a link frequency of 87.3 MHz but this is incorrect as the broadcast FM band begins at 87.5. Premier County Radio was announcing 87.9 and 104.3 FM at this time, and also broadcast on 1251 kHz AM. The tape is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.

31st March 202331st March 2023

Requests and dedications on Kildare Community Radio

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Irish language poster for Kildare Community Radio c. 1982 (Anoraks Ireland Collection).

Kildare Community Radio (KCR) was a long-running station broadcasting from Naas in Co. Kildare from 1979 until 1988. This tape is of an afternoon show featuring a mixture of music including ballads, traditional, country and oldies presented by DJ John. There are plenty of requests and dedications from listeners, including a few who call in on crackly phone lines. It’s a bare bones style of presentation with no station idents or adverts and a few technical problems.

No times are given but the recording is airchecked. It is dated 6^th November 1983 and the frequency of 1404 kHz (214 metres) noted, but this is more likely to have been KCR’s long-running channel of 1413 kHz to which it had moved by December 1982. Logs by DX Archive from before that time record it off-channel on 1400 kHz. KCR never broadcast on FM. A visit by DX Archive in 1981 recorded that the station was located in a large house called St. Martin’s at Naas Harbour and that the building was dilapidated like so many pirate premises. KCR is listed in an Anoraks Ireland log from April 1988 but closed soon afterwards in advance of the December deadline for pirates to leave the airwaves.

This tape was made originally by Kieran Murray and is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.

29th March 202317th May 2023

Border series: Radio Star Country in the new millennium

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More than a decade after the new broadcasting laws came into effect, pirate radio continued to be heard across Ireland, although not on the scale of the 1980s. The Monaghan pirate Radio Star Country was among those stations that carried on broadcasting into the new millennium, continuing to attract listeners and advertisers on both sides of the border. In this recording from 2001, there are plenty of commercial breaks and requests from Belfast, Down and Derry as well as nearer to home. An advertising promo gives a number in the North and news from IRN in Britain refers to the foot and mouth crisis that was raging at the time. There is evidence of increased religious influence on Radio Star Country with gospel and religious music, notices for religious businesses and a guide to daily gospel programmes including one by station owner Albert Chambers.

This recording was made from 981 kHz in Scotland on 24^th October 2001 from 1105-1205. The DJ is the late Patsy Jordan (McDonald). Thanks to Ian Biggar for the donation.