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Border series: early Radio Star Country broadcasts

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Border series: early Radio Star Country broadcasts
Early Radio Star flyer (courtesy Ian Biggar).

Welcome to our special series on Monaghan station Radio Star Country, one of the longest-running Irish pirates ever. The country music station has been on the air more or less continuously since 1988 to the present day. It broadcast initially on 927 kHz, then 891 kHz, and finally (and today) 981 kHz.

Radio Star Country’s first test transmission took place on Wednesday 11th May 1988 at 1.30pm on 927 kHz AM (324 metres medium wave) and 103.2 MHz FM, and consisted of continuous country music. The station was broadcasting from the Swan Lake Hotel in Monaghan Town and the man behind the new venture was Gerry Byrne, who had also worked on Telstar Community Radio (Dundalk), Big M Community Radio (Castleblayney) and Northern Star (Monaghan).

The recording above is the earliest known tape of Radio Star Country shortly before it began broadcasting officially. The test broadcast on 12th May 1988 (no times were logged) consists of continuous country and Irish music and links every few records by Gerry Byrne, who invites potential DJs to apply for positions at the station. The address of the Swan Lake Hotel is given, as well as a Monaghan phone number. Both 103.3 and 103.5 FM are mentioned at different times in the broadcast. The recording below is of Gerry Byrne’s morning show from 0823-1023 on 9th June 1988.

Gerry Byrne as heard in Blackpool on 9th June 1988.

Both tapes were made in Blackpool, England and suffer from electrical interference at times. Audio levels are variable in the test broadcast. The recordings are courtesy of DX Archive.

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Radio West during 1983 raids

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Radio West during 1983 raids
Radio West compliments slip courtesy of DX Archive.

Radio West was a large station broadcasting to the midlands from 1982, first on 1071 kHz and then on 765 kHz as in the compliments slip. Acquiring the old Radio Nova 10kW transmitter, it could be heard far and wide especially when it moved to the clearer channel of 702 kHz. By 1988 Radio West was styling itself as ‘West National Radio 3’ and claiming to be nationwide, based on the 10kW AM rig and a chain of FM transmitters stretching from Dublin to Galway.

This recording is from the 18th of May 1983 from 1908-1925 and features Davina Carr on air with a country programme, a style of music popularised by rural stations such as Radio West. There is no mention of the raid on Radio Nova that morning, although Davina explains that the station had been off the air earlier due to technical issues. Radio West was among those stations to close down temporarily following the other raid on Sunshine Radio on the 19th of May. You can hear airchecks and jingles from Radio West here.

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Treble TR Radio during 1983 raids

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Treble TR Radio during 1983 raids
Treble TR car sticker courtesy of DX Archive

Treble TR was Dublin’s country and Irish music station and broadcast from 1981 until the end of 1988 on 945 kHz and 99.5 FM. This recording is from the 18th of May 1983, the day of the Radio Nova raid when panic took root among pirates throughout the country. This recording (presenter unidentified) is of part of the Top 20 of country and Irish, a programme sponsored by none other than Nova Dry Cleaners! A barking dog also features but there is no mention of the Nova raid. Like many other stations, Treble TR closed temporarily the following day.

This recording from a noisy 945 kHz AM is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Skywave Radio International broadcast a shortwave station in the 1980s from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin.