Boyneside Radio Archives - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

Northeast series: Drogheda radio split reaches a head in 1982 — Drogheda postcard from 1982 with the Boyneside logo (courtesy Ian Biggar).

Due to a split in the Drogheda station Boyneside Radio in July 1981, the Co. Louth town gained a second station calling itself Community Radio Drogheda (CRD). A detailed history of the split is available here but in summary, the two rival stations attempted to undercut each other for the best part of 10 months in a small town with limited advertising revenue. To complicate matters, Boyneside Radio experimented with television during this period and attempted to open another station in Navan, Co. Meath. By April 1982, the situation had reached breaking point, with CRD running out of money and DJs leaving for other stations in Dublin. After negotiations, the two camps made peace and Boyneside Radio regained its position as the sole Drogheda station in early May.

This recording from April 1982 of both Boyneside Radio and CRD was made before the merger and gives a sense of the situation at the time. First up is Owen Barry (Owen Larkin) with his lunchtime show on Boyneside, including the Angelus bell at midday. Also of interest is an advert by Fianna Fáil, as politicians would later be censured by their parties for doing interviews on pirate radio. Next up is CRD with the voices of Richard Kenny (Richard Crowley), Eddie Caffrey, Dermot Finglas and Gavin Duffy presenting a lunchtime chat show. Gavin refers to plans for a new schedule and even a public meeting to discuss the development of the service with listeners, but the writing was on the wall for CRD at that stage.

The recording of Boyneside was made on 5^th April 1982 from 98.1 FM and that of CRD on 6^th April from 1305 kHz AM, announcing 225 metres. Boyneside also announced 225 but broadcast on 1323 kHz during this time as well as FM. We have done our best during the digitisation process but audio quality is fair to poor due to cassette degradation. The tape was made by Kieran Murray and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.

14th June 20243rd June 2024

The sound of Dublin pirate radio in June 1986

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The Dublin pirate scene was alive and well in the summer of 1986. Radio Nova had closed suddenly in March, to be replaced by Energy 103. Other super-pirates Sunshine Radio and Q102 took advantage of the change to consolidate their positions in the crowded market. Smaller stations continued to chug along serving their own niche audiences or communities while pirates from nearby counties could be heard easily in the capital, particularly on AM.

This airchecked recording captures some of the variety to be heard in Dublin that summer and includes excerpts from KISS FM (Dublin 1), Capitol Radio, Radio Dublin, Q102, Sunshine 101, Energy 103, Bray Local Broadcasting (BLB), Community Radio Fingal (CRF) and Boyneside Radio. It was made on 19^th June 1986 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.

19th January 20247th August 2024

Northeast series: Summer shows on Boyneside Radio

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This recording features excerpts from two shows on Boyneside Radio from Co. Louth in the summer of 1984. Boyneside was 6 years on the air at this stage and had grown into one of the largest regional radio stations in Ireland, with its main studios in Drogheda. The tape begins with an aircheck of Declan McGowan’s Saturday night show between 2000-2130 on 11^th August 1984. Requests are heard from both sides of the border along with plenty of adverts and a few clunky chopped-up jingles. Declan began presenting on Boyneside in 1982 when he was just 15 and he remained with the station until it closed at the end of 1988.

This is followed by an aircheck of Daire Nelson’s breakfast show from 0745-0930 on Monday 13^th August 1984. Some of the comments are a bit off by today’s standards but the recording also underlines Daire’s real talent as a broadcaster. News is read by Shane Harrison, who went off to work for BBC Northern Ireland. The tape was recorded from 98.1 FM by Kieran Murray and is part of the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection. Audio quality is generally very good but there is a buzz at the start, which may have been due to an issue with the recording device.

13th November 202324th November 2023

Northeast series: Afternoon shows on Boyneside Radio

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By the mid-1980s Boyneside Radio was calling itself the ‘biggest regional radio station in Ireland’ and could be heard over a large area from Dublin to Belfast. From humble origins in Drogheda, Boyneside developed into a network of stations in Counties Meath and Louth, including a Northern service based in Carrickcarnon right on the border. This recording from 1986 features two well-known DJs presenting early afternoon shows. First up is Kieran Murray with the end of the People’s Choice requests programme. He is followed by one of the station’s founders Eddie Caffrey with Afternoon Delight and the Golden Hour. There are plenty of local adverts in the busy pre-Christmas period.

The recording was made between 1350 and 1438 on 25^th November 1986 from Boyneside’s Dublin FM relay transmitter on 105.5 FM. It is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.

17th December 202217th December 2022

Northeast series: Early afternoon on Boyneside Radio

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This recording of popular northeast station Boyneside Radio was recorded from its Dublin FM relay in autumn 1986. From the main studio in Drogheda, the late Dave C. (Cunningham) presents his lunchtime programme, including the buy-and-sell slot Tradio and listener’s requests in the People’s Choice. He is followed by the Golden Hour with Kieran Murray, who is standing in for one of Boyneside’s founders, Heady Eddie (Eddie Caffrey).

Adverts for businesses in Counties Louth, Meath and Down are voiced by various Boyneside DJs and presenters including Kieran Murray, Eddie Caffrey, Dave C., Dermot Finglas and Mike Ahern (Richard McCullen). Main lunchtime news at 1.15pm, including local news and sport, is read by newsroom stalwarts Mike Ahern and Áine Ní Ghuidhir.

Part 1 above runs from 1304-1352 and Part 2 below from 1352-1440.

Part 2 froom 1352.

The tape was recorded from 105.5 FM on 15^th September 1986 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.