1984 Archives - Page 12 of 14 - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

24th April 20207th August 2021

Full recording: Diamond Radio (Dublin)

Diamond Radio broadcast on and off from 1981 to 1985. They began on the 30th of May 1981 and were heard in August by DX Archive on a visit to Dublin. The station was logged on 1580 kHz and thought to be a hobby pirate at the time. Short Wave News from December 1981 states: ‘Diamond Radio, now on 1557-59 with 500 watts. It has two teenage owners, a one bedroom office/studio and a spirit of improvisation’. The January 1982 issue said it was putting out about 170 watts and gave an address of Annadale Drive in the Marino/Whitehall area of Dublin 9. Diamond was listed by Anoraks UK on 1557 kHz in May 1984 but there was no mention of the station in a later list from August that year.

In Contact (World DX Club) in February 1984 Paul Davidson wrote: ‘Diamond Radio, a hobby station last heard summer 1982 are back on 1556 kHz with a very clear second harmonic on 3114 kHz’. The same address was reported and hours of transmission were said to be irregular, circa 1100-2400 daily. Paul did an update for Contact in early 1985 in which he listed Diamond Radio on 1556 kHz from Marino with broadcasting hours from 1600-2300. People involved in the station have confirmed to us that it was an irregular hobby pirate operating from 1981 to 1985. In Anoraks Ireland reports from 1986 and 1987 a Radio Diamond is listed on 106.1 MHz with addresses in Ballyfermot or Crumlin but was a different operator. We thank Ian Biggar and Niall Cassidy for providing information about the station’s history.

This recording is from 1557 kHz and starts at 11.27am on the 3rd of March 1984. Audio is scratchy and over-modulated but it gives a sense of the station. The recording is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Skywave Radio International broadcast a shortwave station in the 1980s from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin.

24th April 20206th August 2021

Aircheck: Radio Donnybrook (Dublin)

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Radio Donnybrook was one of three temporary community stations which broadcast in the 1980s to celebrate local festivals in Dublin. Radio Sandymount, Radio Ringsend and Radio Donnybrook were all set up by Dave Reddy under the banner of the Community Broadcasting Cooperative and broadcast on various frequencies such as 981, 1116 or 1134 kHz as well as low power FM. This is a loop recording from 981 kHz on the 10th of June 1984 of David Baker announcing the imminent opening of Radio Donnybrook.

There’s another short recording of Radio Donnybrook here and you can listen to an interview with Dave Reddy about Radio Sandymount here.

18th April 202022nd September 2024

George Long on Capitol Radio

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There were several stations calling themselves Capital or Capitol Radio in the pirate era, the best-known being the station that was on air from 1983 until the end of 1988. This Capitol became more specialist as time went on, playing first album tracks and then indie and alternative music. On 1st July 1986 Nitesky 96 was launched as a sister station from 6pm each evening with its own niche shows. The station was a strong supporter of the lively Dublin band scene of the 1980s, broadcast a weekly listeners’ Alternative Top 10 and held its own ‘Alternative Night’ every week.

This recording is from 96 MHz FM, begins at 9.15am on 3rd February 1984 and features the final 45 minutes of the ‘Daybreak’ show presented by George Long (Henry O’Donovan, RIP (2024)) who went on to work with Radio Nova and Energy 103. George also reads news also 9.15, 9.30 and 10.00 (quite a workload!) before handing over to Conor Brooks. There’s also a promo for a holiday giveaway giving the station’s address in Milltown, Dublin 14. At this time Capitol also broadcast on 1017 kHz but left AM at the end of March 1986 after reportedly selling the transmitter to the new Liberties Local Community Radio. Capitol-Nitesky 96 continued on FM until 31st December 1988.

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

4th April 202018th September 2022

Gerard Roe on Radio Annabel (May/June 1984)

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This is a great recording of the popular Free Radio Campaign programme hosted by Gerard Roe on Dublin station Radio Annabel in the mid 1980s. The first part is from 20^th May 1984 and was recorded from 1035 kHz AM. It includes an interview with Kenny Everett from a BBC documentary about the offshore pirates, information about the new offshore station Laser 558, news about Radio Caroline, Gay Byrne celebrating 50 years of Radio Luxembourg and the 6th anniversary of Radio Carousel. The second part, probably from a week or two later, features Big D Radio and London pirate Thameside Radio. Audio quality is fair because the AM signal was over-modulated.

1st October 20196th August 2021

Full recording – South Coast Radio (Cork)

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We are grateful to Ken O’Sullivan for his donation of this recording from the final days of the first incarnation of South Coast Radio in Cork.

The first South Coast began in 1982 and broadcast from studios above Henchy’s pub in St. Luke’s, Cork only to close on Friday 13^th July 1984. This is a recording from the previous Sunday, 8^th July. The station was revived temporarily in studios on North Main Street shortly afterwards but this was mostly a rebranding of another station and didn’t last long. There was a third generation when the station known as WBEN which broadcast from Cook Street changed its name to South Coast in 1987. They used some of the original equipment (record decks, cart machines and desk) and kept the name until closedown in December 1988. This was the final incarnation of South Coast Radio.

The disc jockey on this recording is Ken O’Sullivan under his pirate name Ken Regis with jingles and stings made by the late Keith York. Tony Allan and Rob Allen (still with Cork’s 96FM) provided voiceovers for the ads and promos. South Coast used 1557 kHz AM (announcing 194 metres), also trying 1566 for a time, and the FM frequency was 104 MHz. You can listen to jingles from South Coast Radio here and WBEN here.