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First day of Liberties Local Community Radio

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First day of Liberties Local Community Radio
Car sticker for LLCR courtesy of DX Archive

This is a recording of the first day of Liberties Local Community Radio (LLCR) from 4th April 1986. The presenter is Paul Barrett and this is aircheck includes jingles and a helpful interjection from Brian Greene who informs us that the FM transmitter on 96.7 was running 50 watts. There’s a change in sound quality half-way through, when it seems the source was switched from FM to the AM transmitter on 1035 kHz.

LLCR broadcast from Weaver Square in the Liberties until the end of 1988 during which time it changed format and name several times. You can hear LLCR jingles here. This recording is from the Pirate.ie collection.

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Documentary: history of Community Radio Youghal

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In the summer of 2019, Community Radio Youghal celebrated 40 years since it began broadcasting as a pirate from the east Cork town. CRY was licensed as a community radio station in 1995 but its history stretches back to 1979 when it began broadcasting as a pirate.

Documentary: history of Community Radio Youghal
The farmhouse near Youghal from where CRY broadcast in its early pirate days (courtesy Ian Biggar/DX Archive).

See the DX Archive site for more photos and history of CRY’s pirate days. You can listen to the current CRY here.

Documentary: history of Community Radio Youghal
A ladder leading to the studio at the farmhouse (courtesy Ian Biggar/DX Archive).

A special documentary, ‘Born in the USA’, aired by CRY on July 4th 2019 to mark its 40th birthday, was funded by Broadcasting Authority of Ireland. We thank CRY Manager Darragh Parker and Programme Director Justin Maher for granting us permission to share this.

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Interview: Declan Meehan (part 2: 1982-1989)

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Interview: Declan Meehan (part 2: 1982-1989)
Declan Meehan and John Walsh at East Coast FM in Bray where Declan has worked since 1994.

In the second part of our extended interview, long-time broadcaster Declan Meehan discusses his move from Sunshine to Radio Nova in 1982 which was by then the biggest station in Dublin. He tells us how Chris Cary copied the sound of KIIS FM in Los Angeles to bring a new broadcasting style to Ireland. Despite his love for Radio Nova, Declan left the station because of the bitter NUJ strike in 1984. Although he moved into licensed radio in the UK and Ireland after that, Declan’s involvement with the pirates didn’t quite end there. The interview concludes with Declan’s thoughts on the pirate legacy and his views on the state of radio today.

You can hear the first part of this interview here.

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Interview: Declan Meehan (part 1: 1970-1982)

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Interview: Declan Meehan (part 1: 1970-1982)
Declan Meehan and John Walsh at the studios of East Coast FM in Bray, where Declan has worked since 1994.

We met one of Ireland’s most experienced broadcasters Declan Meehan recently to discuss his significant contribution to Irish pirate radio history and Irish radio in general over the past 50 years.

In the first part of a long interview, Declan discusses the early years of his involvement in the Dublin pirate scene spanning small stations such as Radio Vanessa and Radio Milinda and larger, more professional operations like ARD. He describes his unhappy move to the new RTÉ Radio 2 in 1979 and how he went on to work for the first of the superpirates, Sunshine Radio, where he met Chris Cary.

The interview includes references to many of the best-known names in Irish radio over the past half-century.

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Tony Murrell on ABC Radio from Waterford

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Tony Murrell on ABC Radio from Waterford
Tony Murrell at ABC in 1986 (courtesy Andy Carter).

ABC Radio broadcast from 1982 to 1988 from Waterford and was one of the southeast’s most popular pirates. From humble beginnings in a caravan in the seaside town of Tramore, it later moved into Waterford City and became one of the most successful local stations outside Dublin. ABC began broadcasting on 729 kHz and later moved to 1026 kHz, using a 1 kW transmitter. This recording was made from 1715-1749 on 26th March 1986 and recorded from AM. The presenter is Tony Murrell and the segment includes news, ad breaks and weather.

Tony Murrell on ABC Radio from Waterford
Image courtesy of DX Archive

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