Anoraks Ireland Collection Archives - Page 58 of 64 - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

17th June 202216th June 2022

Afternoon show on Wicklow Community Radio

Wicklow Community Radio (WCR) began broadcasting in the second half of 1982 on 1512 kHz AM (198 metres). Its origins were in temporary festival stations based in Wicklow Town, the first of which was set up by RTÉ in 1980. WCR was renamed WLCB (Wicklow Local Community Broadcasting) in the summer of 1985 and changed its name again to Viking 105 in 1987. The station closed down as the end of 1988 in line with the vast majority of pirates.

This recording is of Willie Naughton’s Sunday afternoon show on 17^th June 1984 and is from 97.15 FM. It runs from 1820-1910 and is airchecked. There’s praise for Bruce Springsteen’s new album Born in the USA and a promo for the Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders gig in the SFX Centre in Dublin that night.

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

17th June 202216th June 2022

Late night on Radio Dublin

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This recording of Radio Dublin was made on the evening of Sunday 17^th 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.

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.

6th June 20225th June 2022

Radio Dublin on June bank holiday 1977

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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, 6^th 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.

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.

19th May 202223rd February 2026

Radio Nova official closedown, 19th May 1983

Our montage of the final minute of Nova with photos taken by Joe King.

This is iconic announcement of the official closedown of Radio Nova at 6pm on Thursday, 19^th May 1983, following the raid by the Department of Posts and Telegraphs on the station the previous morning. From the afternoon of the 19^th as news of the imminent closure spread, a large crowd assembled outside the studios at 19 Herbert Street, Dublin 2 and Nova’s many listeners near and far heard the electric farewell broadcast. Watch a video of the dramatic closedown announcement voiced by Tony Allan, with photographs of the final day courtesy of Joe King.

Listen below to the segment from 1617-1700, featuring Nova DJs and guests including Mike Moran, Jason Maine, Scott Williams, Paul Vincent, Andy Rua, Roland Burke, Linda Conway, David Harvey, Bryan Dobson, Chris Barry, Doctor Don, Frank Wynne, Tony Allan and Dennis Murray. This recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.

Listen below to the final 40 minutes from 1720-1800. This is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Radio Skywave International was a shortwave station based in Baldoyle in northeast Dublin in the 1980s.

Nova returned to the air on Sunday 22^nd May 1983.

19th May 20222nd May 2024

Final morning of Radio Leinster

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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 29^th 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, 19^th 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.

The recording below is part of Al Dunne’s final show on Radio Leinster from 1124-1159 on 19^th 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.