The Crofton Airport Hotel during the ARD/Radio 257 days (photo courtesy of Noel Hiney).
Following the relaunch as Radio 257 on New Year’s Day 1980 and a move to the Crofton Airport Hotel, the station had resumed using the ARD name by the autumn of that year. The arrival on the scene of super-pirates Sunshine Radio in 1980 and Radio Nova in 1981 changed everything and smaller stations such as ARD began to feel the pinch. It moved back into the city centre in early 1982 but closed later that autumn, making its final broadcast on September 15th. According to Radio Radio (1988) by Peter Mulryan: ‘After the emotional closedown, the microphones were kept open on FM, and Dublin listened to the sad sound of the studios being dismantled’.
Brian Greene’s own copy of the Radio 257 sticker.
This is a recording of a very young David Baker presenting the Saturday breakfast programme from the Crofton on 1st August 1981. The recording was made from 99 FM from 0820-0905 and includes news read by Al O’Rourke. Both David and Al would go on to work in many other Dublin pirates, including the network of temporary festival stations run by the Community Broadcasting Co-operative.
The ARD mast at the Crofton (photo courtesy of Noel Hiney).
We thank David Baker for his donation of this recording. Listen here to our podcast with David in which he shares his memories of pirate days.
Brendan O’Carroll aka Uncle Bren (photo courtesy of Dave Reddy).
ARD closed down on New Year’s Eve 1979 but returned a few hours later as Radio 257 on New Year’s from the Crofton Hotel near Dublin Airport. The station would revert to the ARD name by late 1980. Many household names of the future passed through the doors of ARD/257, one of whom was Brendan O’Carroll, now better known as Mrs Brown in the BBC and RTÉ comedy Mrs Brown’s Boys. Here he is as ‘Uncle Bren the kiddies’ friend’ presenting the breakfast show. The voices of the late Tony Allan and Dave C. are heard on ads.
A selection of the Leon Tipler Tapes in our archives.
This is an original recording made by British radio enthusiast Leon Tipler for his acclaimed documentary series ‘The Irish Pirates’. Part of the ARD recording is heard in the documentary here but the full original tape has not been published previously. Unfortunately the cassette isn’t dated but we estimate it to be from July 1981. The Leon Tipler Tapes Collection was donated to us by Steve England.
The ARD logo as featured in Kieran Murray’s ‘Offshore Echos’ from 1978 (courtesy of Ian Biggar).
Many of Ireland’s broadcasters of the future cut their teeth in ARD and Radio 257. This is a recording of longtime RTÉ presenter Ronan Collins, reading the 4pm news on ARD on 7th May 1979. Ronan presented a show every afternoon from 2-4pm, as the daytime schedule below shows.
Extract from the ARD schedule in ‘Offshore Echos’ magazine in 1978 (courtesy of Ian Biggar).
The station was still located at Belvedere Place at this stage. It moved to the Crofton Airport Hotel and relaunched as Radio 257 on New Years’ Day 1980 but reverted to the ARD name later that year. We thank Dave Reddy for his donation of this recording.
ARD’s studio at Belvedere Place in 1978 (photo courtesy of Dave Reddy).
ARD (Alternative Radio Dublin) was an important station in the history of Irish pirate radio, introducing professionalism and diversity to the Dublin radio scene. It was set up by Mark Story, Declan Meehan and Davitt Kelly (RIP) and made its first test broadcast on July 31st 1976 on 217 metres. Rivalry grew between the station and the original Radio Dublin but in his book Radio Radio (1988), Peter Mulryan writes that ARD was separated from the rest of the herd by its professionalism. In 1977, Radio Dublin changed its format and began experimenting with round-the-clock broadcasting, upping the ante further. A split at Radio Dublin caused Dr. Don (Moore) to join ARD and the station moved to 1161 kHz (announced as 257 metres), right next to its rival on 253 metres. Although additional advertising revenue was coming to ARD by the end of 1977, a key boost for the station was commercial backing from businessman Bernard Llewellyn who ran an electrical shop in Phibsboro on Dublin’s northside. In January 1978, ARD moved into a Georgian building in Belvedere Place in the city centre and the station held an official launch on January 23rd.
Following the investment, ARD became more professional and introduced specialist programmes, including a respected news service. According to Peter Mulryan, these shows were expensive and Llewellyn reverted to a more music-based policy in the first half of 1978. Two of the original station founders, Davitt Kelly and Declan Meehan also left around this time. Other frequencies used by ARD were 1152, 1143 and 1134 kHz and the station was an early FM pioneer among the Dublin pirates. It closed down on New Year’s Eve 1979 only to return as Radio 257 on New Year’s Day 1980 from the Crofton Hotel in north Dublin. By autumn that year, the station had reverted to the original ARD name. ARD closed for good in mid-1982 in the face of increased competition in the Dublin radio market.
The AM transmitter on 1161 kHz at Belvedere Place (photo courtesy of Dave Reddy).
In addition to the station’s founders, many talented broadcasters were heard on ARD/Radio 257, including John Clarke, Ronan Collins, Gerry Ryan, Mike Moran, Tony Allan, Paul Vincent, Ian Dempsey, Dave Kelly, Cathy Cregan and David Baker. The station also employed journalists such as Gene Kerrigan and Pat Brennan, both of whom went on to become established names. This airchecked recording of ARD was made between 1215 and 1522 on 23rd April 1978 and features Dave C (Cunningham) and Paul Downey with a lunchtime requests show, followed by Arno St. Jude (Declan Meehan), who announces that the station has to close down temporarily due to technical issues. We thank Eddie Caffrey for the donation of this recording, which was made in Co. Louth.
Ian Dempsey at the Crofton Airport Hotel (photo courtesy of Dave Reddy).
Radio 257 was the new name for Alternative Radio Dublin (ARD), a pioneering station of the late 1970s that itself had broken away from Radio Dublin. Radio 257 was launched on 4th January 1980 and based at the Crofton Hotel near Dublin Airport, but reverted to the former ARD name at a later stage. Household names of the future were among the early ARD/Radio 257 crew, including John Clarke, Mike Moran, Tony Allan (RIP), Paul Vincent and Ian Dempsey. The station closed in 1982, a casualty of super-pirates Radio Nova and Sunshine Radio, which had come to dominate the Dublin radio market.
Tony Allan (RIP) in ARD before the relaunch as Radio 257 (photo courtesy of DX Archive).
This recording is of edition #47 of the Free Radio Campaign show on Radio Rainbow International, presented by Kieran Murray on 5th April 1987. It begins with a 5-minute jingle sweep, followed by a recording of the launch of Radio 257 at 12 noon on 4th January 1980. Dave C is in the chair and the launch includes an interview with new breakfast DJ Ian Dempsey and the iconic Tony Allan 257 jingles. The show ends with a weekly round-up of free radio news from Ireland and abroad.
Radio 257 sticker (courtesy of DX Archive).
Radio Rainbow International was a hobby station set up by Boyneside Radio engineer Eddie Caffrey from his home in Co. Louth. It broadcast every Sunday on shortwave, AM and FM for three years from 1985 to the end of 1988. As well as the weekly FRC show, Radio Rainbow also leased airtime to British pirate stations at risk of being raided. We thank Eddie Caffrey for sharing this recording.
