Dublin Archives - Page 45 of 85 - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

25th October 202123rd October 2021

After Dark on Radio Annabel

Radio Annabel was one of the smaller Dublin pirates of the early 1980s, broadcasting from the north inner-city from 1983 to 1985. It began testing in September 1983 after the merger of two smaller stations, Westside Radio and ABC. After first using 1035 kHz and then 981, Radio Annabel eventually settled on 1323. The station was heard around 98 FM in the early days but later added 91.8 MHz. Radio Annabel was well-known among anoraks because of the weekly Free Radio Show presented by Gerard Roe. It closed down in March 1985 due to financial problems.

This recording was made from FM from 2134-2220 on 20th September 1983, shortly after the station’s launch. Steve Jones finishes his show and hands over to Paul McCafferty at 10pm with ‘Annabel After Dark’. The frequencies announced are 290 metres (roughly 1035 kHz) and 98.1 FM. Thanks to Shay Geoghegan for the donation.

22nd October 202121st October 2021

Prince Terry on Centre Radio

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Centre Radio was a small FM-only youth station broadcasting from Baldoyle and Bayside in northeast Dublin from 1986-1988. It is especially important for us because it played a big part in our teenage lives: Brian Greene was one of the founders and a regular DJ and John Walsh had his own show also. Centre began broadcasting on 19^th December 1986 and was heard during school holidays only. From February 1988, it moved to Bayside and broadcast every weekday evening and all day long at the weekends. It was one of the last stations in Dublin to close at midnight on 31^st December 1988.

This recording was made from 94.2 FM on Sunday 13^th March 1988 from 1630-1800. It begins with pirate veteran Prince Terry (Roger Lloyd) presenting a once-off show. Prince Terry was the operator of Westside Radio International, a long-running shortwave pirate and indeed this show was recorded to be broadcast on shortwave the following Sunday. The music begins with oldies but later changes to heavy metal in line with Roger’s taste!

Dave Evans (Eamonn Roe) takes over at about 1740 with more music and community news. The recording was made by Roger Lloyd and is courtesy of DX Archive.

20th October 202118th October 2021

Peter Madison and non-stop Capitol 98 FM

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Capitol Radio on 98 FM was a short-lived radio experiment launched in the summer of 1982, aiming to provide an adult-oriented rock service to the greater Dublin area. Although some big names were involved including Tony Allan, Peter Madison, Steve Marshall, Scott Williams, Paul Allen, Eddie West and Lawrence John, Capitol ran into financial difficulties after a few months and closed down in September. Although Capitol proposed to also broadcast on 999 kHz AM, it was an FM-only station, a relatively rare choice in the early 1980s when medium wave was still an important platform.

This recording begins with a link from the late Peter Madison and is followed by non-stop music. There is no date but we estimate it to be from July 1982. Thanks to Shay Geoghegan for the donation.

18th October 202113th October 2021

Eddie West on late-night Nova

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This is a recording of the late Eddie West on the overnight shift on Radio Nova sometime in July 1982. The music ranges from mellow and rock and there is minimal talk in line with the ‘clutter-free’ format. Nova was broadcasting on 846 kHz AM at this time but still used ‘the mighty 890’ jingle from its brief period on 891 kHz in late 1981. The inconsistency didn’t matter to most listeners who didn’t have digital read-outs on their radios!

The recording was made from 88 FM and runs from 0010-0042 but is undated, although we could estimate a date because of references to the forthcoming Rolling Stones concert. Thanks to Shay Geoghegan for the donation.

12th September 202115th September 2021

The Pirate.ie Podcast #8: Our audio tribute to Robbie Robinson

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We’ve compiled an audio tribute to the radio legend Robbie Robinson who died on August 31^st 2021 at the age of 81 in Lanzarote in the Canary Islands. In episode #8 of the Pirate.ie podcast, colleagues, friends and listeners share their memories of Robbie and his station, Sunshine Radio, which transformed the Irish radio scene when it hit the airwaves in 1980.

Many thanks to everyone for taking the time to remember Robbie and honour his legacy in this way: Cathy Cregan, Aidan Cooney, David Baker, Lawrence John, Eddie Bohan, Cathy Dunne, John Fleming, Lillian O’Donoghue, Paul Allen, Simon Maher, Kevin Branigan, Pat Courtenay and Andy Preston.