Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive
Open Free Radio Archive
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This recording of ERI is from 22 July 1984. The presenter is Brian Biggs. Although recorded from FM audio quality is less than optimal and the receiver drifts off channel in the final 10 minutes. ERI also broadcast on 1305 kHz, announced as 225 m.
See here for further information about ERI.
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This is the first recording from a collection of tapes we were donated by the shortwave operator of Skywave Radio International (Baldoyle, 1980s). The notes here will grow if the wisdom of the crowd can add details on Inner City Radio.
The recording is from 2.20pm on 30 July 1984 and the presenter is Tony Mayo. Frequencies given are 981 kHz AM and 102 MHz FM.
Who owned Inner City Radio? Where was the studio and TX site? Who was Tony Mayo? Did it have prior or future incarnations with a new station name? Any photos or logos? Did you work in Inner City Radio or do an anorak station visit? Please contact us if you have information.
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Boyneside Radio from Co. Louth was one of the largest and most successful regional stations in Ireland during the 1980s. It broadcast for 10 years from 1978 to 1988 from Drogheda. During that decade Boyneside developed a series of additional transmitters and opt-out services in Navan, Kells, north Dublin and along the border aiming into Northern Ireland. Here’s a selection of jingles including a series of cuts introduced by station engineer Eddie Caffrey.
You can hear a panel discussion on the Louth pirates here and a separate interview with local veteran broadcaster Eddie Caffrey here. We also have a recording of how Boyneside covered the controversy about Radio Tara (to become Atlantic 252) in Co. Meath.
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Another big Cork station from the early 1980s was South Coast Radio of which there were three incarnations between 1982 to 1988. The original South Coast (1982-1984) broadcast from above a pub in St. Luke’s in Cork on 1557 kHz (announced as 194 metres) and also 104 FM. During its existence the station had many high-profile broadcasters including Tony Allan, Nick Richards, John Kenny, Peter Madison, Henry Owens and Hugh Browne. Here are some of the South Coast jingles.
You can hear an interview with Nick Richards here about his involvement in other stations.
There were several stations calling themselves Capital or Capitol Radio at various times during the pirate era but one favourite of ours was Capitol Radio/Nitesky 96 which evolved from playing album tracks to indie and alternative music. Nitesky 96 was launched as a ‘sister station’ to Capitol on 1st July 1986 and initially featured specialist programmes before settling into its own style of niche music drawing on the lively Dublin band scene. Its ‘Alternative Night’ at McGonagle’s nightclub in South Anne Street was highly popular towards the end of the station’s existence in 1988.
Capitol broadcast on 1017 kHz until early 1986 before selling its AM TX to the new Liberties Local Community Radio which took up position on 1035 kHz. For the remainder of its existence Capitol/Nitesky broadcast on 94.1 and 95.8 FM. Capitol’s jingle package was from the station of the same name in South Africa. Here’s a selection of those jingles from our own collection along with some idents featuring Tony Allan and a Bill Mitchell ident for Nitesky.
Here is Capitol’s news sting. Like many others, Capitol downgraded its news service in later years and read a weather forecast at the top of the hour, using this sting. Other stations using this sting also included CBC in Clonmel and City Centre Radio in Limerick.
You can listen to an aircheck of Capitol here.