Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive
Open Free Radio Archive
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Q102 launched in 1985 with all the knowledge of Nova and Sunshine and a lot of investment, starting with a clean slate. See further information on DX Archive.
This was the imaging for Q102.
These files were donated to the archive on 1st January 2019. If you have similar tapes/carts/reels/files consider donating the audio to the archive here via donations@pirate.ie
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Sometimes the ads ran for so long they became famous. The Red Corner Shop on Dorset Street advertised heavily on the Dublin pirates. This recording is from Radio Dublin in 1987.
The Red Corner Shop
— pirate.ie (@pirate_ie) October 1, 2018
Probably the most advertised shop on Dublin Pirate Radio in the 80s. With Windsor Car Auctions a close second. #radio pic.twitter.com/dqwKzNP6UT
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Dusty’s Trail was a popular programme on Radio Dublin presented by Gerry Jones aimed at teenage listeners. Trailers, as they were called, wrote into the programme requesting music and even met up at organised gatherings every weekend at the band stand at Stephens Green (it wouldnt be allowed nowadays with GDPR and all the regulations of safety). In this recording from 1985, a listener sends in a copy of a response she received from Minister of State for Broadcasting Ted Nealon to her letter expressing concern that stations such as Radio Dublin would be shut down. Audio quality was never great on Radio Dublin but is worse on this recording due to a loud heterodyne. This is from our own collection.
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The Dublin super-pirate Sunshine Radio published several editions of a magazine to keep in touch with its listeners. A form of multimedia in the pre-internet age, the first Sunshine Radio Review was published after it was raided and closed down temporarily in 1983, as a way of keeping in touch with its listeners. Here is a promo for another edition of the Review from 1985 to mark the station’s 5th birthday.
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Radio Dublin was the longest running pirate station in Ireland, on air in various guises from 1966 until 2002. It was raided on numerous occasions and was one of a handful of stations to defy the deadline of New Year’s Eve 1988. In its earliest incarnation, it broadcast as ‘Radio Baile Átha Cliath’ every Sunday afternoon from the home of Ken Sheehan. In this interview from 1985, Mike Anderson of shortwave pirate Radio Valleri interviews Ken Sheehan about his involvement in the establishment of Radio Dublin, his views of the station in 1985 and of the pirate radio scene in general at that time. This is from our own collection.