Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

15th February 202312th February 2023

Nova offshoot KISS FM nears end of run in 1984

KISS FM was set up by Chris Cary as an offshoot of Radio Nova in September 1982, and offered specialist programming aimed at listeners in Dublin, in contrast to Nova’s more mainstream service and wider reception area. It also had the function of absorbing additional advertising for the main station but as it entered 1984, KISS FM was in trouble. Jamming by RTÉ and growing industrial unrest with the National Union of Journalists was threatening the entire Radio Nova operation and KISS FM closed down at midnight on 15^th January.

This recording was made a fortnight earlier and includes the afternoon show with John Clarke from 2pm. The emphasis is on the music with limited talk and from 3pm John presents the Top 40 most played easy listening songs on KISS in 1983. News on the hour is read by Ken Hammond, who went on to work as a journalist with RTÉ. The bulletins contain reference to the new state telecommunications board Telecom Éireann, which was set up to deal with the dire state of the Irish telephone system in the early 1980s.

The tape was made from 102.7 FM from 1341-1521 on 2^nd January 1984 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.

13th February 202311th February 2023

Evening shows on AMS from Kilkenny

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AMS (Astra Media Services) was a Kilkenny station broadcasting from 18^th October 1987 until 31^st December 1988, when it closed down along with the vast majority of the Irish pirates. AMS broadcast from 0745-2400 daily, offering a mainstream service during the day with specialist programming at night.

This recording was made in November 1987, a few weeks after AMS was launched. In Part 1 above, Paul Madigan refers to the ‘new sound of Kilkenny’ and presents his evening mix of chart music and oldies. There is a healthy number of adverts for local businesses, including several in the Arcade in High Street, where AMS was located. Part 2 below is of station manager Séamaí B. (Séamus Brennan), with the nightly Irish hour. In a reminder of the influence of religion in 1980s Ireland, he tells listeners that they can attend evening Mass in Kilkenny because of the holy day of obligation. Audio quality ranges from fair to poor, with distortion and hum at times.

Irish hour from 1900

Part 1 runs from 1745-1833 and Part 2 from 1900-1946 on 2^nd November 1987. The tape was recorded from 98.6 FM and is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.

10th February 202317th May 2023

Border series: Interview with Don Allen of Radio Star Country

Video recorded by Miles Johnston and donated by Rodney Neill.

The legendary pirate DJ Don Allen (RIP) joined Radio Star Country in March 1989. Canadian by birth, Don cut his teeth with the offshore pirates such as Radio Caroline and Radio Northsea International in the 1960s and 1970s, where he became renowned for his country and western jamboree shows. He came to Ireland in the early 1980s and prior to the closedowns of 1988 worked with pirates such as ERI (Cork), Royal County Radio (Meath), Radio West (Westmeath) and Erneside Radio (Cavan). Don’s last station was the licensed Midlands Radio 103 (now Midlands 103) where he hosted a popular country show until his sudden death in May 1995.

This video from 17^th May 1989 contains shots of Radio Star Country’s transmission equipment and includes part of an interview with Don Allen, who says he remains a pirate to the core and has no interest in working for licensed radio. Don reports that the Irish and American country format is proving very popular with listeners and advertisers and indeed, around this time Radio Star Country was announcing itself as the only all-country music station in Ireland. By mid-June 1989, Radio Star Country was noted with an excellent signal on 981 kHz, along with many adverts. The final edition of Anoraks UK’s Weekly Report, published in September 1989, stated that Radio Star Country could be heard over a wide area from Larne in Co. Antrim to Malin Head in Co. Donegal, with the signal also audible on a simple receiver in Dublin and over a large area of north Leinster.

We thank Rodney Neill for his donation of the video, which was made originally by Miles Johnston. Thanks also to Sean Brady for assistance with the text.

8th February 20233rd March 2023

Drivetime on Cork’s WKLR

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WKLR (West Cork Local Radio) broadcast from the town of Bandon from January 1984 until the end of December 1988. Originally aiming primarily at west Cork, by the end of its run WKLR could be heard throughout the county. The station broadcast on 1503 kHz AM, announced as 200 metres, and on various FM frequencies including 100 MHz.

In this recording from winter 1988, John Greene finishes up his Friday afternoon show until 4.30 and he is followed by Tim Coughlan who presents the drivetime show featuring mostly easy listening music. An outside broadcast from Cork City is promised for the following week and the station is identified as ‘WKLR – the new voice of Cork’. News is read by Deirdre O’Reilly. Tim presented a show on Cork commercial station C103 until 2022 and John is still heard on that station.

The recording was made from 95.5 FM on 4^th November 1988. Rather than being a studio link transmitter as stated on the label, this was in fact located on a hill southwest of Bandon and covered a large area in its own right. Part 1 above runs from 1607-1653 and Part 2 below from 1654-1740.

Part 2 from 1654.

The tape is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson. WKLR closed at 0130 on December 31^st 1988.

6th February 20236th February 2023

Chris Barry and David Dennehy on ARD/Radio 257

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Radio 257 was the new name for ARD (Alternative Radio Dublin) when the station relaunched on 4^th January 1980. Many of the DJs on ARD/Radio 257 would go on to become household names in Irish radio, including John Clarke, Mike Moran, Tony Allan (RIP), Paul Vincent and Ian Dempsey. The station closed in 1982 as the super-pirates gained dominance in the Dublin radio market.

Radio 257 reverted to the ARD name at a later stage but in this recording from April 1981, both versions are heard in links and idents. First up is Chris Barry with his drivetime show which includes plenty of adverts and generic jingles re-cut with the ‘257’ tagline. He is followed by David Dennehy who has a write-in competition for listeners. Both Chris and David went on to work in larger pirate stations and eventually licensed radio.

This recording was made from 99.9 FM on 2^nd April 1981 and Part 1 above runs from 1727-1815. Part 2 below is from 1815-1833 on 2^nd April and is followed by part of the Night Train show from 3^rd April 1981, presented by Gary Edwards.

Part 2 from 2nd and 3rd April 1981.

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