Daire Nelson Archives - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

19th January 20247th August 2024

Northeast series: Summer shows on Boyneside Radio

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.

10th February 202214th February 2022

Morning shows on Boyneside Radio in 1985

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This is a selection of clips from morning programmes on Boyneside Radio in 1985, recorded from its Drogheda FM transmitter on 98.1 MHz in stereo. First up is the 7am bulletin, seemingly pre-recorded and featuring news from Northern Ireland. This is followed by the Dara Nelson breakfast show, which includes an interesting promo covering all Boyneside’s frequencies, a Pause for Thought, news headlines at 8am with Áine Ní Ghuidhir and the Top 30 countdown. Next up is the mid-morning show presented by Dave C., including news at 10am, which reports a car bomb blast in Newry just a short time before.

This airchecked recording was made on 6^th March 1985 between 0700 and 1000. It is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson. It was recorded originally by Kieran Murray. Further material from this collection can be found on Radiowaves and the Irish Pirate Radio Archive.

9th February 202224th March 2024

Excerpts from a day on Boyneside Radio in 1983

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Boyneside compliments slip (courtesy Ian Biggar).

This is an airchecked recording of daytime and evening programming on Boyneside Radio from Drogheda on Good Friday, 3rd April 1983. It includes excerpts from the breakfast show with Dara Nelson, Dave C.’s Golden Oldies Show, sports news at 6.30pm, Country Convoy with Seán Neilon and Nightbeat with Neil O’Brien. The voices of Eddie Caffrey, Dave C., Dermot Finglas, Daire Nelson and Áine Ní Ghuidhir are heard on adverts. One spot for the Augustinian religious order stands out from the more familiar ads for local businesses! The selection from different times of the day gives a good flavour of the variety heard on Boyneside at the time.

Excerpts from a day on Boyneside Radio in 1983 — Anoraks Ireland cassette label (the correct date is 3rd April).

The recording was made from 98.1 FM in mono and is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson. It was recorded originally by Kieran Murray. Further material from this collection can be found on Radiowaves and the Irish Pirate Radio Archive.

7th February 202214th January 2024

Morning shows on Boyneside Radio

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This is a recording of morning programmes on Boyneside Radio from early 1983. Following the merger with the breakaway Community Radio Drogheda, the station was making headway again and advertising from the town was plentiful. Part 1 of the recording above was made from 98.4 FM in mono and runs from 0906-0954 on Friday 21^st January 1983. It features Daire Nelson on the breakfast show and includes a comedy slot involving a call to the Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda as well as a weekly sentence in Irish. There are requests from Drogheda, Dundalk, Duleek and Navan. Dara is followed by the late Dave C. at 0930.

Part 2 below is from 0957-1045 and includes the One Minute of Pop quiz and news with Shane Harrison, who now works as BBC Northern Ireland’s Dublin correspondent.

Part 2 of the recording.

This recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.

29th October 20206th June 2022

Northeast series: East Coast Radio (1986)

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East Coast Radio broadcast for a little over six months from the town of Ardee between Drogheda and Dundalk. According to the Anoraks UK Weekly Report of the 15^th of June 1986, an unidentified transmission with a strong signal on 1044 kHz AM was logged 75km away in Dungannon, Co. Tyrone. It was also said to be strong in Dundalk and was picked up without an aerial in Blackpool on the west coast of England. During the test period, RTÉ Radio 2 and BBC Radio 2 were relayed at different times. The station was to be called East Coast Radio and presenters were sought. The station was set up by local promoter Jim McQuillan in partnership with a local DJ. Jim is still promoting and currently manages the band Bagatelle. Former Boyneside Radio presenter Daire Nelson was among those involved. The studio was based in McCabe’s Motors, Main Street, Ardee.

In August 1986, Anoraks UK reported that East Coast was putting out an excellent signal on AM and that its studios were impressively laid out. It was also reported to be broadcasting on 97.7 MHz FM. The AM transmitter was located at a place called Hacklim Funshog just outside Ardee and had been used originally by Radio Meath in Trim and was also tried by Royal County Radio in Navan in 1982. It was on the air for just a week or two before being stolen but was later found in a yard in Kells, Co. Meath. Eddie Caffrey of Boyneside Radio built a 500-watt transmitter for East Coast at the time which ended up being used by a station in Carlow after East Coast’s short life. The AM site was high up which boosted the signal and was used for FM by Big M Radio from Monaghan at the end of the pirate era.

East Coast Radio closed down on the 24^th of January 1987. A lack of advertising revenue was suggested but one of its main competitors, Radio Carousel in Dundalk, had gone off the air earlier that month after a complaint of interference by the Department of Communications. This recording was made by Gary Hogg in Blackpool from 1044 kHz from 1125-1225 on 7^th July 1986 and some splatter from neighbouring channels can be heard. Chris Clarke is on air with Daire reading news on the half-hour. Thanks to Ian Biggar for sharing this with us and to Eddie Caffrey for additional background information.