Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

1st June 20221st June 2022

Mid-morning with Pete O’Neill on South Coast Radio

Pete O’Neill was a popular DJ on various Cork pirates in the late 1970s and 1980s, including one of the city’s big stations, South Coast Radio. This is a recording of his mid-morning show beginning at 1000 on Tuesday 4^th May 1982. Pete thanks Alan Reid (aka the late Henry Condon/Henry Owens) for the breakfast show and presents his usual mix of music, chat and information. There are promos for Wheelchair Awareness Week and local concerts, daily horoscopes and birthdays, an adult education diary, what’s on file and lost and stolen section. A studio guest from the Tony Quinn Yoga Club talks about relaxation. The listener’s Top 5 just after 12 noon features the choice of loyal South Coast fan Lillian McCarthy (O’Donoghue). News on the hour is read by Mark Lawrence but is cut.

Part 1 above runs from 1000-1135 and part 2 below from 1150-1250.

Part 2 from 1150

Audio quality is mixed as the recording switches between 104 FM and 1557 kHz AM. Thanks to Lillian O’Donoghue for the donation and photo.

30th May 202229th May 2022

News bulletin on Capitol Radio

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Capitol Radio (220 and later 226 metres) was a mixed-format station broadcasting from Dublin in 1975 and then from 1978-1981. The station had many specialist music programmes as well as news and current affairs and provided evidence, from the beginning of the pirate era, that not all stations played chart hits only.

This news bulletin from 9^th March 1979 is read by one of Capitol’s founders, Alan Russell. Stories include a Supreme Court judgement in favour of former Garda Commissioner Ned Garvey who was dismissed by the government in 1978.

It also includes a defence by RTÉ presenter Bunny Carr of the television quiz show Quicksilver, then under fire from critics.

Alan Russell went on to set up stations in Galway in the 1980s. We thank him for donating this recording and the photo.

20th May 20222nd May 2024

ABC Radio following 1983 raids

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ABC Radio was one of the smaller Dublin stations of the early 1980s, operating from 1981 until the autumn of 1983. Broadcasting from the Ivy Rooms Hotel (now the Gate Hotel) on Parnell Street, ABC was an offshoot of Radio Dublin Channel 2 and eventually merged with another small station, Westside Radio, to form Radio Annabel. It was one of three stations that remained on air in Dublin following the infamous raids on Sunshine Radio and Radio Nova in May 1983.

This recording runs from 1123-1143 on Friday 20^th May and is from FM in mono, although we don’t have a frequency. ABC also broadcast on 981 kHz AM around this time, announcing 312 metres. Ger Parks jokes that the DJs had been out late the previous night, no doubt related to the raids. There’s also mention of a protest march in favour of pirate radio to be held the following week.

This recording is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Radio Skywave International was a shortwave station from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin in the 1980s.

20th May 20222nd May 2024

Westside Radio following 1983 raids

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Following the raids on Sunshine Radio and Radio Nova, the pirate airwaves of Dublin fell largely silent. Only three stations remained on air: Radio Dublin from Inchicore, ABC Radio from the city centre and Westside Radio from Mulhuddart in the west of the city. This recording is of Westside Radio from the morning of 20^th May 1983, the day after Radio Nova’s official closedown. DJ John Martin says that no pirates remain on FM in the city, with just three on AM, including Westside. Listeners are invited to complete a petition in favour of the pirates and send it to Westside or Radio Nova itself in advance of a court hearing the following week.

The recording was made from 1035 kHz, announcing 290 metres. Westside went on the air in early 1983 and later merged with ABC Radio to become Radio Annabel, which began testing in September 1983.

This recording is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Radio Skywave International was a shortwave station broadcasting from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin in the 1980s.

19th May 20222nd May 2024

Radio Nova official closedown, 19th May 1983

Our montage of the final minute of Nova with photos taken by Joe King.

Here’s the iconic announcement of the official closedown of Radio Nova at 6pm on Thursday, 19^th May 1983, following the raid by the Department of Posts and Telegraphs on the station the previous morning. From the afternoon of the 19^th as news of the imminent closure spread, a large crowd assembled outside the studios at 19 Herbert Street, Dublin 2 and Nova’s many listeners near and far heard the electric farewell broadcast. Watch a video of the dramatic closedown announcement voiced by Tony Allan, with photographs of the final day courtesy of Joe King. Listen below to the final 40 minutes of broadcasting from 1720-1800.

The final 40 minutes of Radio Nova on May 19th 1983.

This recording is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Radio Skywave International was a shortwave station based in Baldoyle in northeast Dublin in the 1980s.