Anoraks Ireland Collection Archives - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

19th January 202519th January 2025

Late-night on hobby station Q107

Q107 was a part-time hobby pirate station broadcasting in Dublin in the 1980s. Information about the station is scant, but it seems that Q107 appeared sporadically between 1984 and 1988. In common with many other hobby stations, it spent a longer period on air towards the end of 1988 as the deadline for the closure of the pirates approached. Based in Ballyfermot in west Dublin, Q107’s owner was Ray Brennan, reportedly a nephew of the legendary pirate pioneer Don Moore (RIP), who provided studio gear for the hobby station. This recording was made in the final few weeks of 1988 and features Ray Brennan himself, using his on-air name Alan Byrnes. Callers to Q107 include Paul Davidson (Tony Donlon, RIP) of Anoraks Ireland, who says he has plans to record the closedown of every one of the 128 pirates still on air at the end of the year.

This recording was made from 107 FM from 2343-0029 on Sunday and Monday 11^th and 12^th December 1988 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection. Alan Byrnes closes down the station for the night and says it will return later that morning at 0700. Thanks to Ian Biggar for additional information.

15th January 20259th January 2025

Border series: afternoon show on Donegal station WABC

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Returning to 1990 and the story of Donegal pirate WABC, today’s recording is from the autumn of that year following the resumption of the twin services WABC Gold and WABC Hot Hits. Tina James is in the afternoon slot on the Hot Hits station with plenty of chart music interspersed by idents claiming to play 10,000 hits in a row. News on the hour is read by Declan Gill and adverts are heard for businesses in Derry and Antrim, including one from as far away as Belfast.

The tape is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection and was made between 1500-1705 on 17^th October 1990 from 101.7 FM.

12th January 202518th January 2025

Denis Murray on Liberty 104

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By 1988, Liberty 104 had attracted some high-profile Dublin broadcasters to its studios in the heart of the Liberties district and the station was gaining listeners. One experienced DJ who had previously been heard on Radio Nova and its offshoot KISS FM was Denis Murray, who in this recording presents a drivetime show. Music is a mixture of chart hits and classics and there is a listener competition based on identifying three songs. A promo for factory requests underlines how stations like Liberty 104 catered for this cohort of the population. Confusingly, Denis refers to 103 FM on a few occasions despite the 104 branding, although there was a lot of variation in the station name during its almost 3 years on air. News at the top of the hour is read by Michael Mahon, formerly of Energy 103.

The recording above was made from 1548-1721 on Monday 4^th April 1988 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson. The final section below runs from 1723-1809.

Final section from 1723-1809

Audio quality is good to fair with some hiss. It was recorded from 103.5 FM. Liberty 104 also broadcast on 103.9 FM as well as 1035 kHz AM at this time.

10th January 20258th January 2025

Non-stop music on Radio West

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Radio West broadcast from 1982 to 1988 and grew from a local station serving the midlands to a regional station with national aspirations. It re-launched as ‘West National Radio 3’ in 1987 and claimed coverage of 22 counties but in fact the signal was poor or non-existant in many parts of country away from the main transmission site near Mullingar.

This recording was made on a Friday night a fortnight before Radio West closed down at the end of 1988. It consists of continuous music interspersed with station idents and jingles. There are occasional interruptions suggesting that this may be a pre-recorded tape, although it would be surprising that a live DJ would not be on air at that time of the day. Of particular interest is the opening song, ‘Leave the stations on the airwaves’ by Chuck, June and the Gamblers which complained about the impending closedown of the pirates.

The tape is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection and was made from Radio West’s Dublin relay on 97.3 FM between 2010-2056 on Friday 16^th December 1988. The station also broadcast on 702 kHz AM and various low-power FM relays. The final show was hosted by country music veteran DJ Don Allen (RIP) on 30^th December 1988.

6th January 20253rd January 2025

More Gareth O’Callaghan on Energy 103

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Gareth O’Callaghan was one of the most popular and professional DJs of the pirate era and continues to broadcast on independent radio to this day. In this recording from summer 1986, he winds up his evening drivetime show on Dublin station Energy 103, not long after it emerged from the ashes of Radio Nova in the spring of that year. Gareth has a television teaser for listeners and refers to the Queen concert coming up in Slane that weekend. News is read by George Long (Henry O’Donovan, RIP).

Gareth’s show is followed by Tony McKenzie presenting a syndicated programme in the 7Up Music Machine series, featuring British rock band Supertramp in a live concert in the US. Reflecting the sponsorship deal, many adverts refer to 7Up and the Music Machine albums. The tape is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection and was recorded from 103 FM from 1834-1922 on Wednesday 2^nd July 1986.