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Interview with Gerry Reilly, transmitter man

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Interview with Gerry Reilly, transmitter man

The engineers who kept radio stations on air are sometimes overlooked in the history of the pirate era from 1978-1988. In this interview, Gerry Reilly, a radio engineer from Co. Cavan, talks about the many engineering jobs that he did for pirates throughout Ireland. Gerry worked on transmitters for almost 50 stations including Kandy Radio, Galway District Radio (GDR), Hometown Radio, Big M, Erneside, NWCR, CCR, Breffni Radio, Midwest Radio. East Coast Radio (Louth), Melvin Radio, Radio North, Riverside Radio, Boyneside Radio, DCR Letterkenny, Radio West, Rainbow Radio, Star Radio, North Star, KISS FM, KITS, North Atlantic Radio and many more.

The interview was conducted by Walter Hegarty on October 20th 2018, when over 100 radio anoraks gathered in the Ballsbridge Hotel in Dublin. The purpose was to meet and record oral history of the pirate radio era.

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Radio Tara picket reported by Boyneside Radio

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Radio Tara picket reported by Boyneside Radio
Boyneside car sticker (courtesy Andy Carter).

This recording is of the main 6.00 evening news from Drogheda-based Boyneside Radio on 30th August 1988 and includes an interview with a representative of local residents in Clonlyon in Co. Meath protesting against the erection of a high longwave mast for Radio Tara in nearby Clarkestown.

RTÉ’s proposed joint venture with Radio Luxembourg, Radio Tara went on the air as Atlantic 252 in September 1989. It was aimed at the large and lucrative British market at a time when the UK had no national commercial radio station. Atlantic 252 was very successful in the first half of the 1990s but closed in 2002.

The recording was made from 98 FM and is from the Pirate.ie collection.

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Panel: The Louth Pirates

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Panel: The Louth Pirates
John Walsh interviewing (L-R) Eddie Caffrey, Michael Hughes and Richard McCullen in October 2018 (photo courtesy of Eddie Bohan).

Co. Louth was an important county in Irish pirate radio history, with several successful commercial stations often beaming their signals across the border. In this panel discussion on the Louth pirates, Richard McCullen, Michael Hughes and Eddie Caffrey share their memories of the county’s lively pirate scene. Stations featured include Radio Dundalk, Radio Carousel and Boyneside Radio. The interviewer is John Walsh and the discussion was recorded on the 20th of October 2018 at a special event held in Dublin to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the closure of the pirates.

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Interview: Eddie Caffrey (Radio Rainbow International, Radio Fax)

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Interview: Eddie Caffrey (Radio Rainbow International, Radio Fax)
L-R: Eddie Caffrey, John Walsh, Ian Biggar, Brian Greene on a visit to LMFM on 24th April 2019.

On October 20th 2018 over 100 radio anoraks gathered in the Ballsbridge Hotel in Dublin. The purpose was to meet and record oral history of the pirate radio era, as the 30th anniversary of the 1988 closedowns approached.

At the event we met Eddie Caffrey (aka Heady Eddie), one of the best-known people in radio in the northeast stretching back over 40 years on both pirate and licensed stations. We spoke to him about the 1980s shortwave radio scene in Ireland, in particular his own stations Radio Rainbow International and Radio Fax. The interviewer is Brian Greene.

Interview: Eddie Caffrey (Radio Rainbow International, Radio Fax)
Eddie Caffrey on his afternoon show on LMFM (photo courtesy of LMFM)

We thank Eddie for his generous donations without which our series on the northeast pirates could not have taken place.