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

9th May 20207th August 2021

Full recording: Raidió Luimní (Limerick)

One of the longest-serving pirates in the country from 1978 to 1988, Raidió Luimní had many loyal listeners in its core area of Limerick, Clare and Tipperary due largely to the unique broadcasting style of its owner the late John ‘the Man’ Frawley. After installing a new AM transmitter on 1125 kHz in 1985, the signal could be heard further afield, adding to the station’s listenership and Frawley’s popularity.

Here’s another recording of John ‘the Man’ from the 5th and 6th of November 1984 featuring his quirky mixture of gossip, news and music which was unrivalled on Irish radio at the time or arguably since. In the first part of the recording, Frawley lends his support to the local campaign against the water tax in advance of a court case on November 6th. He attempted to enter politics himself, standing in the 1981 and February 1982 elections but polling poorly despite his popularity as a broadcaster.

The recording is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Skywave Radio International broadcast a shortwave station in the 1980s from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin. You can hear more of the Limerick pirates here.

7th May 20207th August 2021

Full recording: Radio Zodiac (Dublin)

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Radio Zodiac was a short-lived station from the Castleknock area of Dublin. They were first noted by the Anoraks UK Weekly Report in August 1984 (where the name was misheard as ‘Radio Maniac’ due to poor modulation) and used a variety of frequencies around the 1400-1530 kHz area of the medium wave band. They were last noted in January 1985 and seemed to have settled around 1410 kHz by then. Radio Zodiac’s transmission times seemed to be irregular and it falls more into the hobby pirate category than a commercial operation. According to on-air announcements a ‘Zodiac Roadshow’ was in existence.

The owner of Zodiac Ciaran Brannelly told us that they started around June 1984 and were based in a concrete shed in a yard on Dunsink Lane. The AM transmitter operated at about 300 watts and the aerial ran up a tall television mast and across the yard. They converted the shed into a studio and by July they had a full schedule of DJs from 8am to 12 midnight and sometimes 24 hours a day. The music format was open so DJs played whatever music they liked. The average age was 15 to 17 and there were about 25 DJs throughout the week. Zodiac had professional voice drops made in the UK and carried a few local ads to cover rent and ESB costs. The core of listeners was based in Castleknock, Blanchardstown and Finglas but they often got calls from further afield.

In October 1984 the AM transmitter was revamped and a small 50-watt on 105 FM was built. By Christmas 1984 most of the original DJs had lost interest as the studio was in a remote location so new people came on board who were more interested in the radio scene at the time. By March 1985 Zodiac began merging with another station Castle K FM which was based in a house in Castleknock. Radio Zodiac closed around April 1985 and moved to another studio and became BFBS as Castle K had also shut. For obvious reasons it was decided that BFBS would stand for ‘Blanchardstown Frequency Broadcasting Service’ rather than British Forces Broadcasting Service, although the jingles were an edited version of the Cyprus branch of the UK armed forces radio station. BFBS had a good signal because it was relayed to a higher site and was estimated to be on 150 watts on 105.1 FM. By early 1986 BFBS had become Caroline 98 on about 500 watts.

This recording was made on the 29th of August 1984 from 1555-1640. The presenters are Brian Jones followed by Mark Wesley who also does news and there are elaborate home-made jingles based on American singer Roberta Kelly’s single ‘Zodiacs’ (1977). There’s some confusion about the frequency: the cassette label gives 1432 kHz, but 1450 is announced on air along with ‘214 kHz medium wave’ which is in fact metres but that would be equivalent to 1400 kHz. In the pre-digital days the listeners weren’t too bothered about such precision! Thanks to Ian Biggar for extra research. The recording is from the Skywaves Tapes Collection. Skywave Radio International was a shortwave station in the 1980s from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin. Radio Zodiac continues online.

24th April 20207th August 2021

Full recording: Diamond Radio (Dublin)

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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.