Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

17th June 202216th June 2022

Late night on Radio Dublin

This recording of Radio Dublin was made on the evening of Sunday 17^th June 1984 from about 2250. It’s not clear who the first presenter is because although the cassette label mentions Gerry Jones, James Redmond thanks ‘John’ for his show when he kicks off at 2300. There are plenty of letters requesting love songs on ‘The Smooch’ and James reminds listeners that they become ‘smoochers’ if they write in six times. There’s also a mention of a Radio Dublin meet-up in St. Stephen’s Green the previous Sunday and a programme for prisoners on Saturday nights. It’s all evidence of the loyal listenership that Radio Dublin built up during its many years on air.

Audio quality on Radio Dublin often left a lot to be desired and there is interference from another source throughout this recording, apparently related to the transmission. This recording was made originally by Kieran Murray and is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.

17th June 202216th June 2022

Afternoon show on Wicklow Community Radio

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Wicklow Community Radio (WCR) began broadcasting in the second half of 1982 on 1512 kHz AM (198 metres). Its origins were in temporary festival stations based in Wicklow Town, the first of which was set up by RTÉ in 1980. WCR was renamed WLCB (Wicklow Local Community Broadcasting) in the summer of 1985 and changed its name again to Viking 105 in 1987. The station closed down as the end of 1988 in line with the vast majority of pirates.

This recording is of Willie Naughton’s Sunday afternoon show on 17^th June 1984 and is from 97.15 FM. It runs from 1820-1910 and is airchecked. There’s praise for Bruce Springsteen’s new album Born in the USA and a promo for the Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders gig in the SFX Centre in Dublin that night.

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

17th June 202216th June 2022

Afternoon show on Radio Carlow

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Radio Carlow broadcast on AM and later also on FM between 1981 and 1984. Local anorak John Dowling logged its first location as Ballyhide, which is just on the Laois side of the border with Carlow but it later moved into Carlow Town. A frequency listing from summer 1984 listed Radio Carlow on 1413 kHz AM (212 metres) and 103.8 FM. The station continued into 1986 but discontinued AM towards the end.

This is a short recording of Radio Carlow from Sunday 17th June 1984. Pat Scully is on air with an afternoon requests show. The tape runs from 1715-1800 and is airchecked. There is some wobble due to the degradation of the cassette after almost 40 years. The recording was made originally by Kieran Murray and is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.

15th June 202214th June 2022

South Coast Radio from June 1982

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This is a selection of short recordings of Cork’s South Coast Radio from a week in June 1982. First up is Nick Richards from just after midnight on Tuesday 15^th June, who includes a request for number one South Coast fan, Lillian McCarthy (O’Donoghue). Then we hear extracts from Pete O’Neill’s mid-morning show from Thursday 17^th June. Pete says that the schedule will be different the following day because breakfast DJ Alan Reid (Henry Condon, also known as Henry Owens, RIP) will be celebrating his birthday that night. At the end we hear a snippet of the late Hugh Browne from his afternoon show on the same day.

These recordings were made from 104 FM and are courtesy of Lillian O’Donoghue.

13th June 202213th June 2022

John Ashford on South Coast Radio

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John Ashford (real name John Buckley, RIP) was one of the younger DJs who were heard on South Coast Radio in the summer of 1982. Aged only 19 at the time, John had started broadcasting at an even younger age at Cork City Local Radio and then Radio City. He joined South Coast in June 1982 and stayed on as a weekend presenter through the summer.

This recording is of John’s first show in the late night slot on 13^th and 14^th June 1982, from 2349-0026. There are some wobbles as John gets the hang of things. Some agency adverts are heard also. Thanks to Lillian O’Donoghue for the recording.