Dublin Archives - Page 60 of 82 - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

26th December 20206th August 2021

Youth radio for northeast Dublin: Centre Radio (1986-88)

Centre Radio may not be the most famous of pirates in the decade 1978-1988, but it was especially important for the founders of this archive. Brian Greene, known on air as Bobby Gibbson, was one of those who set up Centre Radio on 19^th December 1986 at the Baldoyle Youth Club in Dublin 13. John Walsh was also involved and called himself Richard Taylor on air.

The station broadcast during school holidays for the next year and by November 1987, it had teamed up with Bayside Youth Club to train up to 80 young people in radio. From February 1988 Centre was on the air every evening and all day at weekends from the Mid-Sutton Community Centre in Bayside, Dublin 13. The station broadcast a live concert in aid of charity on 30^th December and broadcast through the night into its final day before the airwaves were silenced by the new broadcasting legislation.

Over the next few days we’ll bring you a selection from the final day of Centre Radio on 31^st December 1988. But first, complete with plenty of reverb and clunky cassette edits, here’s a selection of jingles based on an Alfasound package and various station promos voiced by Brian and John. The final two refer to the fact that Centre carried the Radio Nova satellite service overnight.

21st December 20206th August 2021

Dublin’s easy listening station KLAS 98

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KLAS was Dublin’s easy listening station, broadcasting on 98.5 FM from November 1986 until December 31^st 1988. It was set up by Hugh Hardy who owned the Radio Carousel network and broadcast from a time from a garage behind his home in Sutton in Dublin. The station was renamed as Class 98 and managed by John May in its final months on air from studios in Harcourt Street in the city centre. It applied unsuccessfully in 1989 for one of the two Dublin city licences.

One of the founders of Pirate.ie, John Walsh, was involved in KLAS while still at school. Here is an aircheck of his programme between 1320-1400 on 21^st December 1986 which includes agency ads and an ad for the Sunday World voiced by John himself.

20th December 20207th August 2021

Tony Christie on Radio Dublin

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Tony Christie was a familiar voice on many pirates in the 1980s including Liberty 104, Radio Dublin and KISS FM in Co. Offaly to where he moved in 1987. Here he is on Radio Dublin from 105 FM on Sunday 24^th August 1986 from 1512-1600 with a show sponsored by the No Name Fashion Depot in Walkinstown. Along with regular live promos for No Name, the voices of Robbie Robinson and Tony Allan can be heard on ads. Tony Christie is now a broadcaster on Midlands 103.

This recording is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Skywave Radio International was a shortwave station broadcasting from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin.

15th December 20204th December 2022

The original Christmas station: Radio Snowflake

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Radio Snowflake was the original Christmas station, set up by Dave Reddy of the Community Broadcasting Co-operative (CBC) in 1982. The CBC rang temporary festival stations around Dublin in locations such as Glasnevin, Ringsend and Donnybrook and also broadcast Radio Snowflake around Christmas each year.

This recording was made from 1512 kHz AM on 15^th December 1984 from 1345-1430. David Baker, a well-known voice of CBC and other pirates, is on air with his usual mix of easy listening music and community news. There is plenty of co-channel mixing, possibly from Wicklow Community Radio on the same frequency. 1512 or 1530 were the usual AM frequencies for CBC with various low-powered FM channels in operation. 99.9 MHz is announced in this recording.

David Baker continued to run Radio Snowflake online until 2019, using many of the original presenters. Christmas FM comes on air every year on a temporary licence in various cities and towns across Ireland. The recording is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Skywave Radio International was a shortwave station broadcasting from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin.

13th December 20206th August 2021

Radio Leinster: wooing listeners from RTÉ Radio 1

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Radio Leinster stood out from the other Dublin pirates of the early 1980s because of its diet of easy listening music and chat as opposed to the pop played by most stations. In his documentary ‘The Irish Pirates’, British radio enthusiast Leon Tipler commented that while the majority of the Dublin stations were in direct competition with RTÉ Radio 2, Radio Leinster seemed intent on attracting listeners from Radio 1.

Radio Leinster began broadcasting in late April or early May 1981 from the city centre before moving to an elevated site in Sandyford overlooking Dublin. A professional 1 kW transmitter on 738 kHz (406 metres) travelled well by day but was subject to interference at night. The station closed suddenly on 19^th May 1983 as panic spread following the raids on Sunshine Radio and Radio Nova and never returned.

Tipler was particularly interested in the niche offering of Radio Leinster and made several recordings of it during his visit in September 1982. The recording above was made from 738 kHz and is an aircheck of part of Daphne Mitchell’s afternoon programme beginning at 1556 on Friday 10^th September. It includes a letter from a listener and a lengthy community notice board. The voices of Richard Crowley and Anna Chisnell, both of whom would go on to work in RTÉ, can be heard on ads. Daphne Mitchell was also heard on BLB in Bray in the 1980s.

The recording below is from 93 FM on Monday 13^th September 1982 and features a young David Baker reading the sports bulletin on his breakfast programme. David’s breakfast shift from 0700-0900 meant that he arrived late for school each morning!

These recordings are from the Leon Tipler Tapes Collection, donated to us by Steve England.