Country music Archives - Page 9 of 9 - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

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 — 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.