Coverage of 1983 raids on pirate stations

Coverage of 1983 raids on pirate stations
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.

Coverage of 1983 raids on pirate stations
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.

John ‘the Man’ Frawley on Raidió Luimní

John 'the Man' Frawley on Raidió Luimní
John Frawley pictured in his obituary in The Limerick Tribune (courtesy Liam Byrne).

John ‘the Man’ Frawley was among the best known and most popular of Ireland’s pirate radio presenters, running the unique station Raidió Luimní from Limerick City for ten years from 1978-1988. He began broadcasting with Radio Limerick Weekly Echo (RLWE) in 1978 but left after a few months to set up his own station in Catherine Street, later moving into a derelict building in Lower Shannon Street. There was a hole in the roof, which was said to be useful for John the Man’s weather forecasts! When the station moved to a tiny shed near the old City Theatre, John persuaded a Christian brother to allow him run a wire across Sexton Street to the tall school building which was an ideal spot for his aerial. After a few more moves, the station’s final premises was at the corner of Gerald Griffin Street and Williams Street. Raidió Luimní closed in the early hours of 24th December 1988, a week ahead of the deadline for the pirates to leave the airwaves.

John 'the Man' Frawley on Raidió Luimní
AM and FM aerials at Sexton Street (Anoraks Ireland Collection).

This broadcast is from Monday 7th November 1988 towards the end of the station’s existence and features the inimitable style of John’s morning Snap, Crackle and Pop programme, including his own weather forecast based on what he could see from the studio. The Master Butcher downstairs gets a mention and John’s voice is heard on most of the adverts. There’s also the popular daily call to the ‘dressing gown brigade’ to get out of bed. Paul Davidson of Anoraks Ireland is in studio during the recording and John comments on the gap to be left by the pirates at the end of 1988. He also reads the death notices, including one of Raidió Luimní presenter Larry Foxy O’Brien, for whom the station had closed for a few days as a mark of respect. Death notices are commonplace on local radio today, but the tradition was started by Raidió Luimní.

John 'the Man' Frawley on Raidió Luimní
William Street studios in 1986 with the Master Butcher downstairs (Anoraks Ireland Collection).

John the Man died prematurely in 1989, before the licensed stations got up and running. According to his obituary published in The Limerick Tribune on 17th June 1989, John ‘became an articulate and amusing radio personality in the pirate days. He portrayed the Limerick jargon and way of life to a tee … There will never be another John Frawley and the freedom that he and his presenters were allowed on pirate radio is now sadly a thing of the past’.

John 'the Man' Frawley on Raidió Luimní
Original cassette label from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.

This recording was made from 103.05 FM. Part 1 above runs from 0907-0953 and part 2 below from 0954-1040.

Part 2 from 0953

Thanks to Eddie Bohan and Liam Byrne for assistance with images. The recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated by Paul Davidson.  

Easy listening on KLAS 98

Easy listening on KLAS 98
KLAS car sticker (Alan MacSiomoin Collection)

KLAS 98 (later Class Radio) was an easy-listening music station serving Dublin from November 1986 until the end of 1988. Set up by Hugh Hardy, founder of the popular Dublin station Radio Carousel, KLAS stood out in a market dominated by chart music pirates vying for the youth audience. Aimed more at poaching listeners from RTÉ Radio 1 than Radio 2, KLAS broadcast a range of middle-of-the-road music and also featured jazz and classical. It was was first based in a garage behind Hugh Hardy’s home in the northeastern suburb of Sutton, but used the up-market Hume Street in the city centre as a postal address.

Easy listening on KLAS 98
A contemporary photo of Hume Street, used by KLAS as a postal address (photo by John Walsh).

KLAS was later sold to television aerial salesman John May and rebranded as Class Radio, moving its operations to Harcourt Street in the city centre. Many high-profile presenters passed through its doors including David Baker, Pat Courtenay, Bryan Lambert, Chris Barry and Suzanne Duffy. Co-founder of Pirate.ie John Walsh was also a presenter and newsreader. In 1989, Class Radio was involved in an unsuccessful application for one of the Dublin licences.

Easy listening on KLAS 98
Original cassette label from Anoraks Ireland Collection.

Our recording is of the early days of KLAS when the station was based in Sutton. It was made from 98.5 FM on Tuesday, 28th November 1986 and features Nick Adams presenting his lunchtime show and reading news. Nick would later be heard on RTÉ. Part 1 above runs from 1117-1205 and part 2 below from 1301-1349. There are plenty of agency advertisements, a sign of the promise of KLAS in its early days.

Part 2 from 1301

This recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.

Peter Madison and Alan Reid on South Coast Radio

Peter Madison and Alan Reid on South Coast Radio
Alan Reid (Henry Condon) at South Coast in 1982 (courtesy Lillian O’Dononghue).

This is a recording of the very early days of South Coast Radio, the Cork super-pirate that broadcast from 1982-1984. It begins with the late Peter Madison with the final minutes of his Saturday oldies breakfast show on 6th March 1982 from 1050 to 1100. Peter is followed by the late Alan Reid (Hendy Condon, known later on other stations as Henry Owens) from 1100-1135. South Coast was only on air for three days at this stage, having launched officially on 3rd March 1982. This tape was made from 102.15 FM stereo, announcing 104. South Coast also broadcast on 1557 kHz AM, announcing 194 metres.

Peter Madison and Alan Reid on South Coast Radio
Original label from Anoraks Ireland cassette.

The recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated by Paul Davidson. Thanks to Lillian O’Donoghue for the photo.

Dublin religious station Hope FM

Dublin religious station Hope FM
Sunday World advert reprinted by Anoraks UK in November 1988

Hope FM was a nominally religious station that broadcast to Dublin for the last few months of the pirate era at the end of 1988. It launched on Monday 12th September 1988 on 104.2 FM and soon moved to 104.4.

Hope FM came about when its owners bought another station CAU FM that had broadcast from November 1987 until July 1988, aiming mostly at the southside of the city. Some of the DJs on CAU FM were also heard on Hope FM and the same equipment was used. Using the strapline ‘the newest voice of Dublin’, the AOR music format was interspersed with various short reflections about life, although not overtly religious.

This recording was made on Monday 21st November and is an aircheck of morning and evening programming. It begins with Greg Edwards (aka Locky Butler, former owner of CAU FM and previous southside stations) on breakfast from before 9am and includes a competition, adverts and a promo for a daily job spot. The drivetime show from about 5.30pm is presented by an unidentified DJ and includes traffic news sponsored by a taxi company and a Christmas children’s toy appeal. News is read on the half-hour.

Dublin religious station Hope FM
Original cassette label from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.

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