Cross-border transmitter built by Sean McQuillan, installed by Tom O’Dea and Frank Sweeney at the CCA as part of the Ballads of Rhinestones and Newcomers exhibition.
In 2022, Pirate.ie collaborated with an exhibition at the Centre for Contemporary Art in Derry about how analogue radio and television signals spilled across the Irish border in the past. The exhibition, Ballads of Rhinestones and Newcomers, covered differing experiences of the border at a time when the implications of Brexit are being felt. As part of the exhibition, the film 2 Channel Land illustrated how pirate radio and television deflector signals could be heard on both sides of the border in times past. Created by artists Frank Sweeney and Tom O’Dea, the exhibition was presented as a radio sculpture and visitors could move through the gallery with handheld radios and learn about the technology and culture of signal overspill.
As part of the project, Frank and Tom interviewed John Walsh of Pirate.ie for a podcast about the background to our archive, with particular attention to recordings of border stations. The podcast was first published in February 2023.
Letterhead from 1991 showing Armagh address (courtesy Ian Biggar).
The raid of August 1990 did little to dent the success of Radio Star Country, and the Monaghan pirate station carried on unimpeded into 1991, although facilities were basic. The Glasgow Herald mentioned the station in a news feature on the Monaghan/Tyrone border on July 13th 1991, commenting on ‘maudlin country and western’ and ‘repetitive ads for farm machinery suppliers and discount stores’.
Extract from the Glasgow Herald of July 13th 1991 (courtesy Ian Biggar).
There is a dramatic account of the station during this period in a book by Cathal ‘Ray’ McSherry (RIP), A Different Wavelength: The Pirate Radio Days from 2004: My first visit to Radio Star headquarters was unforgettable. After leaving the main road and travelling for twenty minutes, I arrived at an old ramshackle single storey dwelling at the side of a narrow boreen. Cement or breeze blocks filled out the windows. Inside was a bare earthen floor which was more likely to the found the days of the Famine. There was a fireplace minus a grate and in all honesty the whole thing looked so absurd and surreal. It was a spectacle I’ll never forget but this was our “studio”. From here we would defy the powers that be and from here we would broadcast our shows, send out our music and entertainment and silently wonder, or think to ourselves often as not, if we weren’t completely coco-pops. Within this hampered house was a mixing desk, microphones, turntables, and all the paraphernalia of radio pirating. A mast was located two miles away to receive the FM signal. Cathal McSherry died in 2021.
Free Radio News (January 1991) reported problems at Radio Star Country due to a strong harmonic on 1962 kHz (2 x 981). This was in the amateur radio band and operators could be heard discussing the signal. They were obviously not happy and apparently reported the harmonic to the UK Department for Trade and Industry. The problem was seemingly caused by technical work being carried out at the transmitter site. This continued on and off for a few days before being finally corrected and luckily no action was taken by the authorities.
This tape of Radio Star Country is a rare FM recording made on 11th May 1991 from 98.6 MHz. Station owner Gerry Byrne is on air with the Star Country Top 20 and his voice is heard on the large number of adverts from both sides of the border. Part 1 above runs from 1126 and Part 2 below from 1214.
Part 2 from 1214
Thanks to Ian Biggar for the donation and for assistance with the text.
Q102 DJ Jason Maine featured in the Sunday World in 1985 (Anoraks Ireland Collection).
Irish-owned Q102 rocked the Dublin market when it came on the air on 23rd January 1985. In these recordings from one month later, it’s clear that the new station has found its feet and is beginning to make a mark on listeners and advertisers. In the first recording above from 1038-1126 on 23rd February 1985, John O’Hara presents the final 20 minutes of his Saturday morning breakfast show before handing over to Jason Maine. The sound is tight and slick, with agency adverts and professional station imaging. There’s also a promo for cash giveaways for listeners spotted wearing Q102 badges. The second recording below is from 2304-2352 on 24th February and features Martin Block with the laid-back ‘bedtime Q’ show.
Eddie West from 24.02.85
Both tapes were made from 102 FM and are from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.
AMS poster at the studio in 1988 (Anoraks Ireland Collection)
AMS (Astra Media Services) was a Kilkenny station broadcasting from 1987 until the end of 1988. Daytime programming was aimed at a mainstream audience, with more specialist shows in the evenings, including this rock show presented by Michael Porter. The programme includes a small number of adverts and a promo seeking sales reps for counties Kilkenny, Carlow and Tipperary.
Original cassette label from Anoraks Ireland Collection
The recording was made on 25th May 1988 from 98.6 FM between 2040-2126. It is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.
Screenshot from 1989 video about Radio Star Country by Miles Johnston (courtesy Rodney Neill).
Although Radio Star Country was warned by the Department of Communications to close down in February 1989, it would be almost 18 months before the station was raided in August 1990. According to Simon Maher’s Free Radio News (August 1990), Radio Star Country was raided on the morning of Wednesday 24th August, when several Telecom Éireann vans along with Garda back-up arrived at the medium wave site just outside Monaghan town. Staff at the station were monitoring 981 kHz when they heard the transmitter go off the air. They looked towards the site where they could see the raid taking place. The FM link transmitter was quickly switched off and studio equipment removed. The station staff then had a conversation with the raiding party before they left with all the transmitting equipment. Radio Star Country returned on Friday morning 31st August.
Former owner Gerry Byrne shares his memories of that time: The licensed station for the area Northern Sound began its broadcasts in 1990 and they were forever complaining about Radio Star Country. They couldn’t figure how to be a success and blamed Radio Star Country for their own lack of ability to be a success. The Department of Communications took the transmitter in August 1990, but we were back on air the next day. By coincidence on the next night someone damaged Northern Sound’s mast. I believe there was another raid on an FM transmitter a couple of years later.
Free Radio News (November 1990) reported that Radio Star Country received a prohibition notice in early October, which meant that their electricity (and in some cases phones) would be cut off in 14 days. In the case of Radio Star Country, it was the power to the transmitter site that was to be cut as the Department of Communications had not established the whereabouts of the studio. In view of this threat, the station searched for an alternative site and a suitable one was found. The power supply was cut around 4pm on 19th October. The station was off the air for around 35 minutes before returning from to the air from the new site and normal programming resumed the following day. The Northern Standard newspaper reported on 13th December 1990 that Gardaí searching the Carrickroe area for a pirate radio station found poteen instead at a site in Bragan. On 13th June 1991, the paper reported that Peadar Keenan of Bragan, Carrickroe was fined £25 after pleading guilty to making a premises available to a pirate station. Acting on a tip off, Department of Communications officials had located Radio Star Country on August 22nd 1990 and had disconnected the electricity supply. The defendant said he did not own the equipment and that it was owned by a Frank McCarthy who had asked him to use his land. Keenan said he did not know it was illegal; he had been approached in 1987 or 1988 and asked to put up a mast on the land.
This recording of Radio Star Country was made in July 1990, a month before the station was raided. On air with his American country show is veteran pirate and offshore DJ Don Allen (RIP), who is in flying form. Don’s voice is heard on a promo: ‘Super Star Country from Co. Monaghan, the only 24-hour country music station in Ireland’ and a Northern number is given for requests. As ever there are plenty of adverts from both sides of the border, many voiced by Don, and a community noticeboard is aired just after 5pm.
The recording was made in Scotland from 981 kHz on 3rd July 1990 between 1642-1759. Signal strength is good but a hum is audible during links. Thanks to Ian Biggar for the recording and for assistance with the text. Don Allen’s Country Jamboree was a hugely popular show on the licensed station Midlands Radio 3 and was much missed after his sudden death in 1995.
