AM Archives - Page 3 of 61 - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

Early Cork series: Radio City enters its second month on air — The late Henry Condon (Alan Reid on air) at Radio City in 1980 (courtesy Lilian O’Donoghue).

In October 1980, the new Cork pirate station Radio City entered its second month on air, offering a variety of programmes from 0700-0200 each day presented by many of the DJs who had cut their teeth on the emerging Cork scene since the late 1970s.

The first part of this recording was made on 1^st October 1980 and features Noel Evans (Welch), Alan Reid (the late Henry Condon, known later as Henry Owens on other pirates) and Tony Allen (Walsh). The second part was made on 10^th October and features Tony Allen, Luke Ward and Pete Andrews (O’Neill). Adverts are sparse after a month on air, underlining the financial challenges involved in sustaining a full-time pirate station at the time.

Audio quality is poor as most of the recording was made by placing a tape recorder against a radio. It was recorded from 1512 kHz AM, announcing 199 metres, and is courtesy of Lilian O’Donoghue.

11th August 202511th August 2025

Border series: Saturday morning on Donegal’s Radio North

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The Donegal pirate Radio North relaunched in 1999 with a new format of mostly American country music, calling itself ‘the new Radio North’. The station focused on FM and ran a parallel religious service Gospel 846 for part of the day on AM.

This recording of a Saturday morning show from autumn that year features presenter Donna Reeves, although the emphasis is on the music with only short links and a tighter station formatting. The voice of station manager Paul Barnett (RIP) is heard on station idents and adverts. As usual there are long commercial breaks featuring small businesses from Donegal, Antrim and Derry.

The tape was made on 2^nd October 1999 between 1005-1056 from 846 kHz AM and is courtesy of Ian Biggar. Presumably Gospel 846 was not on the air at the time, with Radio North broadcasting on both AM and FM.

23rd July 202519th July 2025

Early Cork series: samples from a week on Radio City

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This post features recordings of Radio City Cork made over a week during the station’s first month on air in September 1980. It begins with Paul Cassidy presenting an evening show on 22^nd September, who is followed by Pat O’Rourke (Smurf) with Sounds Around Midnight. Pat previously had a big following on CBC. Pat O’Rourke is then heard from 24^th September signing off in the early hours followed by the national anthem. He is followed by Noel Evans (Welch) later on drivetime later that day. Next up from 25^th September is Noel Evans on drivetime, followed by John Rice. The final snippets were recorded on 29^th September and feature Ed Harris with the Afternoon Delight programme followed by Geraldine O’Connor and Noel Evans.

Audio quality is poor throughout as the recording was made by placing a tape recorder against a radio instead of using a radio-cassette recorder. Despite our best efforts, there is also some wobble on the cassette after many decades. The tape was made from 1512 kHz AM, announcing 199 metres. Thanks to Lilian O’Donoghue for the donation.

21st July 202520th July 2025

Daphne Mitchell on Radio Leinster

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Radio Leinster was a talk and specialist pirate station broadcasting to Dublin from 1981-1983. This recording from a snowy day in winter 1981 shows how, with a fraction of the resources, Radio Leinster mounted a credible challenge to RTÉ Radio 1 during its time on air. The recording begins with the final few minutes of a lunchtime show presented by show band and cabaret singer, Sonny Knowles (RIP). He is followed at 1500 by the much-loved Daphne Mitchell, whose afternoon programme is sponsored by Apollo 1 Discount Store in Dublin’s Moore Street. Daphne’s popular show includes a featured artist, country interlude, poet’s corner, single of the week, horoscopes, a song from the musical and a classical corner. There are references also to other specialist shows on Radio Leinster and a charitable appeal by the presenter of a religious programme, Fr Michael Culloty. News headlines at half past the hour are read by Gordon Sommerville and Daphne is followed at 1630 by Mick McKenzie.

The recording was made from 738 kHz AM, announcing 406 metres, between 1448-1651 on Tuesday 8^th December 1981, and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection. There is increasing co-channel interference as night falls.

16th July 202514th July 2025

Border series: Radio North rebranded as Radio North 2000

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Radio North 2000 was a shortlived rebranding of the Donegal pirate Radio North as it approached the millennium. The name change was implemented after the station was taken over by Paul Barnett (RIP), who previously ran another Donegal pirate WABC, and American Mike Dobbins (RIP). The format moved away from the previous Irish country music diet and was replaced by American country, oldies and some contemporary. One DJ, Steven Lynch, recalls being unhappy with the new name as it was not clear what the station would be called once the year 2000 arrived. It later reverted to the original Radio North after the departure of Mike Dobbins.

This recording of Radio North 2000 features an unidentified DJ signing off at the end of her evening show, followed by continuous music interspersed with plenty of station liners and adverts, some of which are voiced by Paul Barnett. The music consists of pop and chart hits with some oldies.

The tape was made in Scotland by Ken Baird from 846 kHz AM on 16^th May 1998 from 1942-2112 and is courtesy of Ian Biggar. Thanks to Steven Lynch for background information.