1985 Archives - Page 16 of 20 - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

1st June 202022nd June 2022

Full recording: Atlantic Sound (Galway)

We’re delighted to bring you the first instalment in a week-long series of recordings of pirate radio in Galway in the 1980s.

Atlantic Sound broadcast from late 1983 to June 1985 to Galway city. It was set up by Alan Russell who ran the 1970s Capitol Radio in Dublin and had a broad-based format to begin with, including a news service and specialist programmes. In July 1984, following the closure of South Coast Radio in Cork, Atlantic Sound was taken over by former offshore DJs Keith York (RIP) and Don Stevens. They were later joined by another former South Coast colleague, Steve Marshall, who came from WKLR in west Cork. The station moved to 1026 kHz AM around this time and added 95.4 FM. Atlantic Sound is featured in the October 1984 tour of Ireland by DX Archive who were full of praise for the Galway station. They reported that a move from 1026 to 846 kHz was imminent but this didn’t happen until the Cork trio left Atlantic Sound in March 1985. According to the Anoraks UK Weekly Report, Marshall, York and Stevens ‘moved across the road’ to another premises in Forster Street and set up WLS Music Radio on 846 kHz and 104 FM. The technical set up was superior and it wasn’t long before WLS overtook Atlantic. Having lost many of its key staff, Altantic Sound closed down suddenly in June 1985.

This recording is from 1447-1608 on the 28th of May 1985, towards the end of Atlantic’s existence, and features Shane Martin and Gerry Browne on air. There are plenty of Tony Allan idents and an on-air auction for tickets to the forthcoming Bruce Springsteen concert at Slane on the 1st of June. Our thanks to Ian Biggar of DX Archive for this recording.

22nd May 20207th August 2021

Full recording: Magic 103 (Dublin)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Magic 103 sticker from Brian Greene’s collection.

This is a recording of a very relaxed Peter Madison (RIP) on Nova’s short-lived sister station Magic 103 from 1315-1402 on the 25th of June 1985. It begins with some pirate nostalgia in the form of ‘Goodbye Caroline’ by the One Shots, a song about the sinking of the Mi Amigo in 1980 and ‘Get Turned on to Big D’ by John Paul, a presenter at the popular Dublin station of the late 1970s where Peter himself had worked. Some of the vinyl is very scratched, more so than would be expected on a station like Magic 103. News at 1400 is read by Mark Weller (Costigan) who takes over for the afternoon shift. Peter Madison, who died in 2018, worked at many pirates during the 1980s. More recordings of Magic 103 are available here.

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

20th May 20207th August 2021

Full recording: Christian Community Radio (Dublin)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

We have featured Christian Community Radio here before but this is the best quality recording of the station so far. By ‘quality’ we mean the strongest reception of the station, not the standard of audio which was probably among the worst of the pirate stations. Christian Community Radio was run from Merrion Square by Gerry O’Mahony, a Catholic solicitor opposed to the liberalisation of Irish society in the 1980s. The station began in 1985 on AM and FM but was forced off the air in 1987 after causing interference to the FM signal of BBC Radio in Dublin.

This recording from 90.2 FM is from 1755-1830 on the 25th of June 1985 and consists of roughly edited items including religious music, church bells, the Rosary at a local church and ‘joyful singing of our American Christian community’. Production standards are appalling as everything seems to have been recorded on a basic tape recorder with nothing more than a built-in microphone. There is no audio processing so levels are variable and breakthrough from what seems to be RTÉ Radio 2 can also be heard. O’Mahony announces that Christian Community Radio is to go off the air for two weeks in order to make improvements and repairs. However audio standards never got any better throughout the existence of this eccentric station.

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

11th May 202013th December 2022

Wonderland Radio from Tallaght in Dublin

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Wonderland Radio was a community station broadcasting to the suburb of Tallaght in southwest Dublin from 1984 to 1988. According to local newspaper The Tallaght Echo, it was launched on the 12th of May 1984. One of those involved in setting up the station was the late Fr. Joe Cullen, a Dominican priest from Tallaght and Wonderland is yet another example of a community pirate established after the departure of RTÉ’s local radio experiment from the area. The address for most of Wonderland’s existence was a cottage at 3 Greenhills Road but it famously broadcast from the back of an ambulance at one stage. Wonderland was first noted by Anoraks UK on their Ireland tour in October 1984 and is logged a few times on 1359 kHz/220 metres over the following year although the signal on the west coast of England suffered from splatter from Manx Radio on 1368 kHz.

Wonderland’s promotional material used the strapline ‘Tallaght Community Broadcasting’ and changed its name to Tallaght Community Radio in the summer of 1986. The station continued until the end of 1988 on both AM and FM (91.8 MHz) and as the advert below illustrates, shared the ethos of other community broadcasters such as BLB and NDCR. ‘TCR’ was not supposed to be used on air because the full title emphasised the station’s community credentials. Wonderland and Tallaght Community Radio were also popular with radio anoraks because of the Friday night Free Radio Show hosted by Bernard Evans from late 1986. Many of those involved in the station went on to set up the licensed Tallaght FM which was on air from 1999 to 2008. Thanks to Ralph McGarry and Bernard Evans for assistance with research.

This recording from 1206-1252 on 11th December 1985 features the American-sounding presenter John Gummin (possibly an on-air name) with a mixed contemporary and 1960s music style. The recording is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Skywave Radio International broadcast a shortwave station in the 1980s from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin.

3rd May 20207th August 2021

Full recording: WRKY Rocky 103

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

WRKY Rocky 103 broadcast from Co. Kerry under different guises and from different locations. It was launched in September 1984 in Killarney on 103.2 FM with a repeater to the south in Farranfore on 97.2 FM. WRKY emerged from Mike Richardson’s popular Big L Radio in Limerick which closed in April 1985. In 1986 WRKY was hit by scandal when £10,000 raised as part of the global Sport Aid initiative went missing along with one of its presenters. In September Phoenix magazine reported that staff at WRKY walked out after demanding a pay rise from station owner Donal O’Doherty, having been offered more money by another local businessman planning to set up a rival, unnamed station.

Horizon Radio was a spin-off of WRKY set up in June 1986 by Mike Richardson and Francis Jones. It began in Killorglin but later moved to a hotel near Tralee before closing in 1987. Richardson ran a station called Rocky 103 from Listowel in north Kerry in 1988. Thanks to Ian Biggar, Liam Byrne and Martin Ryan for additional information.

This recording from 103 FM from 1.03pm was made on Friday the 7th of June 1985. The presenter is unidentified but sports news is read by Vincent Casey and news is read by Mary O’Sullivan at 1.30pm. The format is a mixture of pop, Irish showband and country and there are community notices and ads for local traders. The recording is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Skywave Radio International broadcast a shortwave station in the 1980s from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin. Further jingles can be heard below.

WRKY jingles courtesy of Liam Byrne.