Community radio Archives - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

5th May 202530th March 2025

Sunday afternoon on Community Radio Fingal

Community Radio Fingal (CRF) broadcast to the region of Fingal in north Co. Dublin between 1982 and 1988. A mostly community-oriented service, it was based initially at the Rockabill Hotel in the coastal town of Skerries and then moved to founder Brian Matthews’ house in the village of Loughshinney. At a later stage the station was based at the Swords shopping centre. CRF began broadcasting on 1584 kHz but later moved to the better channel of 1575 kHz. 189 metres was announced throughout.

This short airchecked recording from summer 1982 begins with an unidentified DJ and is followed by a double-hander with Debbie and Damien presenting a music and requests show. There are adverts for small businesses around Swords but in very low audio. The recording was made by Kieran Murray from 1584 kHz on Sunday 18^th July 1982 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.

30th March 202520th February 2025

Sunday afternoon on Bray Local Broadcasting

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Bray Local Broadcasting (BLB), was one of the leading community radio stations in the country during the pirate era of the 1970s-1980s, and was a founding member of the National Association for Community Broadcasting that lobbied for the licensing of non-commerical local radio. It broadcast from Bray in north Co. Wicklow for the best part of a decade from 1979-1988.

This is a short airchecked recording from 1983 of the Sunday Disco Mix show with an unidentified DJ, interspersed with adverts for small businesses in Bray. It is followed by Louis O’Rourke with At Your Service, a programme for Civil Defence, Red Cross and the Order of Malta, an example of the type of community material championed by BLB. The tape was made by Kieran Murray between 1730-1800 on Sunday 1^st May 1983 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection. 96.3 FM is noted on the inlay card, but BLB broadcast on 96.7 at the time, as well as 657 kHz AM.

23rd March 202529th March 2025

Sunday afternoon on Wicklow Community Radio

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Wicklow Community Radio (WCR) began broadcasting from Wicklow Town in mid-1982, emerging from a network of temporary community stations set up by the Community Broadcasting Cooperative in Dublin in the early 1980s. It relaunched as Wicklow Local Community Broadcasting (WLCB) in summer 1985, which was more commercially-oriented despite the name. A final change in July 1987 rebranded the station as Viking 105, and it continued as such until the end of 1988.

This is an airchecked recording of WCR from 1983. It begins with the end of the WCR Top 30 Show with David Byrne and is followed by Victor Ryan with Sounds Easy. There are plenty of adverts for businesses around Wicklow and reference to the Maytime festival in Newtownmountkennedy. WCR broadcast on 1512 kHz AM at the time, and station liners feature that frequency. The DJ (and marketing material above) also refers to 198.4 metres, which was unusual as metres were often rounded up or down, sometimes quite generously.

The recording was made by Kieran Murray between 1630-1730 from 1512 kHz on Sunday 1^st May 1983 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.

7th March 202517th February 2025

Ken Regis on North Cork Local Radio

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North Cork Local Radio (NCLR) went on air in mid-May 1981 from the north Cork town of Mallow at weekends only. The station directors were Pat O’Brien, Maurice Brosnan and Noel O’Connor, two of whom had presented previously on the RTÉ temporary station Mallow Community Radio, which broadcast in 1980. Initially NCLR had a modest coverage of a 5-mile radius of Mallow but eventually expanded to all of north Cork. The station played pop music but also had a community ethos in programmes and formed a co-operative to rally support for a licence.

NCLR changed its name slightly to North Cork Community Radio (NCCR) in July 1986 and continued to broadcast until the end of 1988. In a letter to Ian Biggar in 1986, general manager Barry O’Mahony wrote that NCCR broadcast from 1100-1800 on weekends and 1000-1800 at weekends with a variety of shows including outside broadcasts, chat, hospital requests, farming programmes, sport etc. He added that the AM transmitter ‘isn’t great but is adequate for present time’, probably a reference to the fact that two other pirates in close proximity were using the same frequency of 1386 kHz, WBEN in Cork and Kilkenny Community Radio. The AM band was crowded and there were few free channels and as a result, co-channel interference between all three stations was severe in parts of Cork.

This recording of NCLR begins with the end of the Saturday Scene show with Pat O’Connor and is followed by Ken Regis (O’Sullivan), who had broadcast previously on other Cork pirates. News is read by Clare O’Sullivan. The airchecked recording was made by Kieran Murray from 95.3 FM on Saturday 16^th July 1983 between 1410-1510. It is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.

21st February 202516th February 2025

Summer Saturday on Clonmel Broadcasting Corporation

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The origins of pirate radio in Co. Tipperary were in the experimental summer station Radio Clonmel in 1978 and bigger stations Radio Carrick and Clonmel Local Radio in 1980. In September 1981, Galway man Gerry Gannon, who was based in Carrick-on-Suir, began planning a radio station for all of south Tipperary . The result of his campaigh was the Clonmel Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), which began broadcasting on 14^th November 1981. CBC became one of the leading pirates to espouse a community radio ethos, in contrast with larger commercial operators in cities such as Dublin and Cork. It had deep roots in its local community and continued broadcasting until the end of 1988.

This short airchecked recording was made on a Saturday afternoon in summer 1983 in Cashel outside the core listening area, so quality is fair at best. Up first is DJ Pat with chart music and he is followed by Kevin Ambrose. Adverts are heard for small businsesses in Clonmel and surounding towns. The recording was made from 828 kHz AM by Kieran Murray on Saturday 16^th July 1983 from around 1800 and is part of the Anoraks Ireland Collection.