John Creedon in the ERI studio at White’s Cross (photo courtesy of Ian Biggar).
John Creedon is a well-known RTÉ broadcaster and presents a nightly programme from Cork on Radio 1. Like so many high-profile broadcasters, he started his career in pirate radio and was known as John Blake on air. He joined the Cork super-pirate ERI in 1982.
This is a recording of the John Blake show during a frenetic outside broadcast from the Wilton Shopping Centre in Cork in 1983. The ERI stage is mobbed by excited kids, one of whom signs a station jingle to rapturous applause. There are mounds of requests from shoppers and listeners around Co. Cork, plenty of spot prizes and a charity event introduced by station boss Joe O’Connor.
ERI sticker (courtesy of DX Archive).
The recording was made from 1305 kHz from 1503-1535 and 1638-1712 on 22nd October 1983. It is from the Leon Tipler Tapes Collection, donated to us by Steve England. ERI was among the Cork stations featured in Tipler’s documentary series ‘The Irish Pirates’ which is available on our site here.
Lucy Potter-Cogan in the ERI newsroom in 1982 or 1983 (photo courtesy of Ian Biggar).
Today we bring you another late-night recording of the Cork pirate giant ERI as heard by the British radio enthusiast Leon Tipler at his home in the English midlands. Tipler (1942-2013) began his radio career on the offshore stations in the 1960s. He made extensive recordings of Irish radio and visited Ireland on many occasions. Recordings of ERI and other Cork stations are to be heard in his renowned documentary covering the early 1980s pirate stations.
This recording was was made from 1305 kHz on 3rd June 1983 from 0030-0105 and 0320-0350. On air is Liam Quigley followed by Ian Richards with the Night Shift programme and overnight news is read by John O’Connor. Despite the distance between Cork and Kidderminster, the signal is reasonable and the fading only adds to the sense of magic of pulling in distant stations on the crowded AM band of the time.
Stuart Scott (aka Ian Biggar) in the Ballycotton studio in July 1982 (thanks to Ian for the photo).
ERI began its life in Ballycotton east of Cork City in summer 1982 using about 200 watts of power on 1305 kHz. After investing in a professional 5 kW US-manufactured transmitter in September that year and moving to Cork City, it quickly established itself as the region’s biggest pirate.
This recording is from the Leon Tipler Tapes Collection, donated to us by Steve England.
Andrew Hewkin in the ERI studio in 1982 or 1983 (photo courtesy of Ian Biggar).
This week we bring you recordings of the large Cork station ERI as recorded by British radio enthusiast Leon Tipler at his home in the English midlands.
ERI began in the village of Ballycotton to the east of Cork City in July 1982 when it was known as Cork Eastside Radio and then Eastside Radio Ireland. It broadcast on 1305 kHz AM and 102 FM locally. In September 1982, ERI, as the station was then known, invested in a high-powered 5 kW AM transmitter and moved its studios to portacabins at White’s Cross in the northern suburbs of Cork City. 1332 kHz was used for just a few days but after complaints from Suirside Radio who were on the same frequency in Waterford, ERI reverted to the original 1305 channel.
ERI portacabins, one with newsroom and production studio, the other on air studio and news booth with record library (photo courtesy of Ian Biggar).
ERI was run by the O’Connor family and the AM transmitter and mast were located about a kilometre from the portacabins at Progress Engineering which they also owned. ERI became the largest and most successful pirate in Cork and continued until the closedowns at the end of 1988. It applied unsuccessfully for a licence when these were advertised in 1989.
This recording was made on 25th May 1983 from 2300-0005 in Kidderminster in England, about 430km from Cork. The DJ is Liam Quigley, who would go on to work on many licensed stations, and news is read by John O’Connor. Interesting this is shortly after the raids on Radio Nova and Sunshine in Dublin on May 19th which caused many stations, including ERI, to close temporarily as a precaution.
Reception features characteristic night-time skywave propagation but the signal is quite listenable and is a testament to the power of the transmitter and skill of station engineer Robin Adcroft. This recording is from the Leon Tipler Tapes Collection, donated to us by Steve England.
We’re delighted to announce episode #2 of the Pirate.ie podcast which explores themes covered in our growing archive of Irish pirate radio.
AM broadcasting, widely used by the pirates up to the end of the 1980s, allowed radio signals to travel far and wide beyond the borders of the state. Even small stations could be carried long distances thanks to the magic of night-time AM propagation but dozens of pirates along the border deliberately beamed their signals northwards. With 50 kW of power at its peak, the Dublin super-pirate Radio Nova aimed specifically at the northwest coast of Britain. Ireland also had many hobby shortwave pirates which could be heard thousands of miles from home.
In episode #2, John Walsh and Brian Greene explore how AM spillover, both accidental and deliberate, brought the Irish pirates to a bigger audience.
The Stella Cinema where STYC Radio was based (photo courtesy www.cinematreasures.org)
Because radio technology was so accessible in 1980s Dublin, all sorts of groups could get involved including youth clubs and community associations. Another station which began under the Community Broadcasting Co-operative (CBC) banner was St. Teresa’s Youth Club Radio (STYC) in the Dublin suburb of Mount Merrion.
Following the usual CBC model, STYC Radio came on the air first in August 1983 to coincide with a local festival and was due to return the following summer but never did so. The station was back on 17th August 1986 from the old Stella Cinema under the direction of John Marren and Greg Manahan.
The demolition of the Stella Cinema in February 2019 (courtesy @brianedempsey / Twitter)
There was a still a link with CBC through the FM transmitter which was supplied by Dave Reddy. Although output was only about 40 watts, the signal on 88 FM got good coverage because of the height of the antenna on the roof of the cinema which was only demolished recently. From 1986 STYC also broadcast on 963 kHz AM using the old Dún Laoghaire Local Radio transmitter, formerly Radio South County from Cabinteely in 1980.
The recording above was made on 24th August 1986 and features the final day of STYC Radio that summer. A giddy presenter at the start has mic problems and is followed by Greg Manahan, one of those running the station. There are references to festival events including a kids’ party, car treasure hunt and double DJ disco that night. It’s an Irish music show and bootlegs of U2 are among the songs played. Given that the destructive storm Hurricane Charley hit Ireland that very night, it was just as well that this was STYC’s final day.
The short airchecked recording below is also from August 1986 and includes Kevin O’Leary & Ken Kelleher with their punk show followed by Greg Manahan. The voice of John Marren is heard on the advert.
The long recording is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Skywave Radio International was a shortwave station broadcasting from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin. The shorter clip is shared courtesy of Kevin Branigan. Thanks to Dave Reddy, Paul Murray and Kevin Branigan for background information.
