This recording of Radio Dublin was made on the evening of Sunday 17th June 1984 from about 2250. It’s not clear who the first presenter is because although the cassette label mentions Gerry Jones, James Redmond thanks ‘John’ for his show when he kicks off at 2300. There are plenty of letters requesting love songs on ‘The Smooch’ and James reminds listeners that they become ‘smoochers’ if they write in six times. There’s also a mention of a Radio Dublin meet-up in St. Stephen’s Green the previous Sunday and a programme for prisoners on Saturday nights. It’s all evidence of the loyal listenership that Radio Dublin built up during its many years on air.
Original cassette label from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.
Audio quality on Radio Dublin often left a lot to be desired and there is interference from another source throughout this recording, apparently related to the transmission. This recording was made originally by Kieran Murray and is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.
Here’s a recording of some vintage Radio Dublin from the days when full-time broadcasting was still a dream. This is part of their 36-hour marathon over Saturday and Sunday 17th and 18th September 1977 with DJs John Paul, Alistair Mac, Jimmy St. Leger, Sarge, Sylvie, Kieran Murray and Johnny Day. Transmission quality left a little to be desired at times and the cassette is showing its age, but there’s no doubt that Radio Dublin was the leading station in Dublin at the time. As well as the music, there are community announcements, adverts and a live link-up to the Radio Dublin car at a racing event in the Phoenix Park. One of those interviewed in the park is the late Irish author Lee Dunne, who was at the time writing the popular RTÉ radio series Harbour Hotel.
Previously the pirates were sporadic hobby operations, appearing at night or at the weekend. This broadcast was a decisive step in the professionalisation of pirate radio in Dublin and led to full-time broadcasting by Radio Dublin at the beginning of 1978. Other stations soon followed and the rest is history.
The recording was made by Kieran Murray and is part of the Anoraks Ireland Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson. A shorter extract below is courtesy of Ian Biggar.
20 minute version of the marathon broadcast
We’re very grateful to Kieran for sharing his memories of this unique broadcast:
Having listened to this recording that I made way back in 1977, many memories have flooded back! Here are my thoughts as of today, 12th June 2022.
This recording was made at 53 Charleston Road, Ranelagh, Dublin 6, in the flat where I lived with my parents. It was also the address used as the contact details for the Free Radio Campaign – Ireland, the pirate radio club that I ran from April 1976 to March 1981.
First, 1977 was the year that I completed my Leaving Cert and this marathon broadcast occurred just after my 19th birthday! I recorded this broadcast from an old valve radio (you know the ones with the tubes that light up!) and the speaker output was wired to a cassette recorder. The radio was given to me by my maternal grandmother and it was connected to a long wire antenna that went out the bedroom window and ran along the full length of the wall of the long back garden at the rear of the flat in Charleston Road.
To be fair, the actual broadcast quality was a bit better than my recording here displays. Recording the entire weekend was a challenge for me, because I had never done an ‘aircheck’ recording before. Plus, I was constrained in the amount of cassette tape that I had to hand at that time and it was over an entire weekend, so I took a sample of each show.
Firstly, I was aware at this time that this was completely new territory for pirate radio. Previous to this, pirate radio stations were limited to broadcasting for short periods, mostly at weekend and at night time, as it was thought that you would be less likely to be raided by the dreaded Posts and Telegraphs and Gardaí. Secondly, because a pirate radio station had never before attempted a marathon broadcast like this, I was aware that Radio Dublin could have been raided at any time – and my hope was that if it were raided, I could possibly catch this event on tape. As it transpired, the broadcast went on uninterrupted and I’m sure that is what emboldened future pirate radio stations from then on.
The contract address used for Radio Dublin during this broadcast was 90 Ranelagh, Dublin 6 (I think Don Moore lived at that address). This was also the very first time that commercials had been broadcast on pirate radio. Featured on this recording is a commercial for the Band Centre, Harcourt Road, Dublin. They had a special offer that you could hire your complete Christmas disco for just £12! Another commercial featured was for Casanova’s Unisex Hair Stylist in 15 North Earl Street, Dublin. The commercial you hear for Sounds Alternative magazine, from Free Radio Campaign – Ireland (the radio club I ran), was on a pre-recorded cassette. In fact, it was one of the first commercials that was pre-recorded on Radio Dublin up to that point. All of the commercials at that time were all read live, over an instrumental bed.
The Alistair Mac show at 6pm was ground-breaking, because it was the first to feature music that was non-commercial and also album tracks. I think it pre-dates Dave Fanning for this type of show. Also featured was a link-up by telephone to a motor racing event that was being held in the Phoenix Park, Dublin. The Radio Dublin outside broadcast unit was a white Jaguar car owned by Eamonn Cooke, with the name Radio Dublin along the side. Again, another first for Irish pirate radio.
The presenters you hear on this recording are: John Paul, Jimmy St Leger, DJ Sylvie, Johnny Day, Alistair Mac, Sarge, Johnny Day and Kenneth Murphy (yes, that’s me using the DJ name that I had used previously on Capitol Radio (August – December 1975).
Each show featured a stream of requests and the landline telephone was ringing constantly. Up to this point, it was unheard of that you could just call up a radio station and get your request read out and your favourite song played within 30 minutes or so. This was quite revolutionary at the time and went down very well, particularly with younger listeners. I often imagine that if Radio Dublin had been raided immediately during that marathon broadcast, then the course of radio here in Ireland may have taken a completely different turn.
In September 1977, Radio Dublin broke the mould of pirate broadcasting in Dublin by broadcasting non-stop for 36 hours. It was a change that spurred the professionalisation of the scene and encouraged round-the-clock broadcasting. Before then, the pirates were part-time operations, coming on the air for short periods at night or during the weekend.
This recording is from bank holiday Monday, 6th June 1977, when the station called itself ‘the new Radio Dublin’ and announced a line-up of four DJs, no doubt in preparation for longer broadcasting hours later in the year. In this airchecked recording from that afternoon, Jimmy St. Leger, DJ Sylvie, Johnny Day and Alistair Mac take plenty of requests from listeners by phone and promote Radio Dublin t-shirts and a march in favour of local radio the following weekend. An address in Crumlin, Dublin 12 is given.
Original cassette label from Anoraks Ireland Collection.
The cassette label says that the wavelength was 251 metres (somewhere around 1196 kHz before the frequency changes of 1978) but most of the links refer to 253 metres (1187 kHz), where Radio Dublin would remain until the 1990s. Radio Dublin closed down permanently in 2002 following the conviction of its owner Eamonn Cooke for sexually abusing children. He was jailed in 2003 and again in 2007 and died in 2016 while on temporary release. If you require support with this issue, you can contact the organisation One in Four.
This recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.
Radio Leinster newspaper advert just a few weeks before it closed down (Anoraks Ireland Collection).
Radio Leinster was one of Dublin’s niche pirates, featuring an easy listening and chat format in contrast with the chart music played on many stations. It began on 29th April 1981 from an elevated site in Sandyford overlooking the city. A professional 1 kW transmitter on 738 kHz travelled well by day but was subject to interference at night.
These recordings are of interest because they are from the last day of Radio Leinster, 19th May 1983. Like many other stations, Radio Leinster was spooked by the raids on Radio Nova and Sunshine and closed down suddenly at lunchtime. The first recording above begins at 1020 and gives no impression of a crisis, with DJ Mike Moran even announcing a competition. News at 1100 is read by Anna Craig (Anna Chisnall, who would later work in RTÉ). Sadly, Radio Leinster was never to return but future pirates in the same easy listening vein would be Magic 103, KISS FM (for a period) and KLAS.
Radio Leinster presenters included many experienced broadcasters and launched the careers of others. One of the station’s presenters was Gavin Duffy who led the consortium to be awarded the local radio licence for counties Meath and Louth in 1989. Peter Mulryan’s book Radio Radio (1988) reports that in 1982 Duffy announced that he would interview senior Sinn Féin figures including Gerry Adams, in breach of Section 31 of the Broadcasting Act. The station received a warning from the Department of Posts and Telegraphs and Duffy was fired.
Original cassette label from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.
The recording below is part of Al Dunne’s final show on Radio Leinster from 1124-1159 on 19th May, who says he will be on air until 2pm. There are indirect references to the raids and Al plays Les Crane’s ‘Desiderata’, the song used by Sunshine Radio at closedown every night. Sunshine had been raided a few hours previously. Listen here to the sudden closedown of Radio Leinster at just after 1pm.
Al Dunne’s show from 1100.
These recordings were made from 93 FM and are from both the Skywave Tapes Collection and the Anoraks Ireland Collection.
Christine Reilly and Kieran Murray in Radio Carousel Navan in 1982 (courtesy Kieran Murray).
Raids by the Department of Posts and Telegraphs on the super-pirates Radio Nova and Sunshine Radio on 18th and 19th May 1983 rocked the Irish radio scene. Panic spread throughout the country’s pirate stations in anticipation of further raids, and many stations took the precaution of closing down temporarily.
One of the larger stations, Radio Carousel in Dundalk, celebrated its 5th birthday around the same time, on 20th May 1983. Kieran Murray, who ran the Radio Carousel operation in Navan, Co. Meath, made recordings from RTÉ and other stations in the week of the raids. The first part of the recording above is from Wednesday 18th May and begins with part of the 1.15 lunchtime news from Boyneside Radio in Drogheda, followed by the 1.30 RTÉ Radio 1 report on the raids. Kieran then records a conversation with Hugh O’Brien of Radio Nova, who had been trying to reach Carousel boss Hugh Hardy all morning. The recording continues with extracts from Thursday 19th May: the report of the raid on Sunshine Radio on RTÉ and an interview by Radio Carousel’s Christine Reilly (Tina Anderson) with Bill McLoughlin of Sunshine Radio.
Original label from Anoraks Ireland Collection.
Part 2 below includes an interview with Hugh Hardy on Paul Clarke’s programme on BBC Radio Ulster on 19th May, followed by the 6pm news on Radio Carousel Navan. The recording ends with part of the RTÉ Radio 1 news at 6.30 on 22nd May.
Interview with Hugh Hardy, Radio Carousel Navan, RTÉ coverage.
These recordings are from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.
