Anoraks Ireland Collection Archives - Page 14 of 34 - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

7th April 202324th March 2024

Radio Nova on Good Friday 1985

This is a recording of the popular breakfast show with John Clarke and Bob Gallico on Radio Nova from Good Friday 1985. There is no paper review given the holiday but the programme features the normal friendly banter between the hosts and Bob reads out a fan letter from a group of listeners. John gives a traffic report for the northwest of England but by contrast the streets of Dublin are quiet. Although Nova was still a leader in the Dublin radio market in early 1985, new Irish-owned station Q102 would soon make its presence felt and Chris Cary’s radio empire began to unravel by the autumn of that year. Nova closed suddenly on March 19^th 1986.

The recording was made from 102.7 FM from 0703-0751 on 5^th April 1985 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.

6th April 202326th March 2023

Q102 prepares for Easter weekend 1985

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By Easter 1985, new Dublin station Q102 was just over two months on air and already making waves as a professional and slick choice for listeners in the capital. In this recording from Holy Thursday that year, Chris Barry presents the Good Morning Dublin show including news, weather, sports, a birthday file, the papers and Hollywood gossip. News is read by George Long and there’s a promo for a £10 giveaway for drivers stuck in traffic who are listening to Q102. Chris Barry was a familiar voice on many Dublin pirates and subsequently had a long career in licensed radio.

This recording was made from 102 FM on Thursday 4^th April 1985 from 0640-0728. It is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.

3rd April 20234th April 2023

Evening shows on Premier County Radio

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Premier County Radio was the new name given to Tipperary station Centre Radio in 1987. Based in Clonmel in the south of the county, Centre Radio had been set up in April 1986 as a youth-oriented offshoot of the long-running Clonmel Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). In this recording from 1988, we hear a flavour of two specialist evening shows on Premier County Radio.

First up is Brendan Kenny with oldies and he is followed by John Savage until midnight with a mix of country, folk and rock and roll. Requests from listeners are heard on both shows but there are no adverts. Part 1 above runs from 2116 and Part 2 below from 2202. The date of recording is 1^st November 1988.

Part 2 from 2202.

The cassette label logs a link frequency of 87.3 MHz but this is incorrect as the broadcast FM band begins at 87.5. Premier County Radio was announcing 87.9 and 104.3 FM at this time, and also broadcast on 1251 kHz AM. The tape is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.

31st March 202331st March 2023

Requests and dedications on Kildare Community Radio

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Irish language poster for Kildare Community Radio c. 1982 (Anoraks Ireland Collection).

Kildare Community Radio (KCR) was a long-running station broadcasting from Naas in Co. Kildare from 1979 until 1988. This tape is of an afternoon show featuring a mixture of music including ballads, traditional, country and oldies presented by DJ John. There are plenty of requests and dedications from listeners, including a few who call in on crackly phone lines. It’s a bare bones style of presentation with no station idents or adverts and a few technical problems.

No times are given but the recording is airchecked. It is dated 6^th November 1983 and the frequency of 1404 kHz (214 metres) noted, but this is more likely to have been KCR’s long-running channel of 1413 kHz to which it had moved by December 1982. Logs by DX Archive from before that time record it off-channel on 1400 kHz. KCR never broadcast on FM. A visit by DX Archive in 1981 recorded that the station was located in a large house called St. Martin’s at Naas Harbour and that the building was dilapidated like so many pirate premises. KCR is listed in an Anoraks Ireland log from April 1988 but closed soon afterwards in advance of the December deadline for pirates to leave the airwaves.

This tape was made originally by Kieran Murray and is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.

27th March 202326th March 2023

Final day of Radio Ringsend 1982

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Radio Ringsend was one of several temporary community stations under the umbrella of the Community Broadcasting Co-operative (CBC) in the 1980s. Set up by Dave Reddy, the pop-up stations went on air to coincide with local community festivals in Dublin and surrounding counties. Based in the southeast inner city, Radio Ringsend broadcast for the first time during the Ringsend and District Community Festival in 1982 and continued each year until summer 1988.

This recording from 1982 is of part of the final day of Radio Ringsend’s first run. Up first is Victor Ryan with music, a copious number of requests and community notices. He is followed at 4pm by Al O’Rourke and at 6pm by Mick Nugent who hosts the final show until 8pm. There’s a real community feel with local kids interviewed in studio between the records. Adverts for local businesses such as corner shops, chippers, garages and pubs are aired. The airchecked tape begins before 3pm on Sunday 18^th July 1982 and was recorded from 1512 kHz (199 metres). Radio Ringsend also broadcast on 104 FM. This recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.