Daybreak on Cork station ERI

Daybreak on Cork station ERI
ERI rate card from 1983 (courtesy Anoraks Ireland Collection).

By 1983, ERI had become Cork’s leading pirate station following the transfer of studios from the village of Ballycotton to the edge of Cork city and the installation of a powerful new AM transmitter giving coverage of Munster. These airchecked recordings of the Daybreak breakfast show were made around St. Patrick’s Day 1983 and give a sense of the station during this expansion phase.

First up is former offshore presenter Andy Archer between 0823-0900 on 18th March 1983. News is read by Andrew Hewkin, who is on his final day with ERI. This is followed by Steve Marshall between 0845-0930 on 21st March 1983 with news read by Seán O’Sullivan. Adverts feature businesses around Cork city and county and there is a promo for a syndicated show, Soundtrack of the Sixties.

Daybreak on Cork station ERI
Andrew Hewkin at ERI in 1982/3 (courtesy Ian Biggar).

ERI broadcast on 102 and 105.8 FM at the time as well as 1305 kHz AM. This recording was made from AM by Kieran Murray and is part of the Anoraks Ireland Collection.

Stuart Scott on Eastside Radio

Stuart Scott on Eastside Radio
Ian Biggar in the Ballycotton studio in 1982 (photo courtesy of Ian).

Cork’s most successful pirate station Radio ERI (1982-1988) began its life in early 1982 in the east Cork village of Ballycotton. It was known various as Cork Eastside Radio, Eastside Recording Ireland, Eastside Radio and then Eastside Radio Ireland, abbreviated to ERI. The station expanded its operations in 1983, moving to better studio facilities and installing a powerful 5kW AM transmitter on the edge of Cork city. It saw off competition from many other aspiring stations and remained dominant in the Cork market until its closure at the end of 1988.

This recording of Eastside Radio, as it was then known, was made a few months after the station began broadcasting, when it was still based in Ballycotton. Presenting the breakfast show is long-time supporter of Pirate.ie, Ian Biggar, known by his on-air name of Stuart Scott. Adverts are scarce for the time of day, perhaps reflecting the fact that the station was still establishing itself. News headlines are read by Ian on the half-hour, the new Top 40 is announced and he mentions that Eastside is to hold an outside broadcast later that day from the seaside town of Youghal.

The recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection and was made from 102.2 FM from 0653-0827 on Monday 23rd August 1982. Eastside/ERI also broadcast on 1305 kHz (announcing 225 metres) at this time and for most of its existence.

Liam Quigley on Cork’s ERI

Liam Quigley on Cork's ERI
Undated photo of ERI’s studio at White’s Cross, Cork (Anoraks Ireland Collection).

By 1985, ERI was well-established as the leading pirate station in Cork and claimed coverage of the entire Munster region on AM and FM. This recording is of an afternoon show presented by Liam Quigley, who went on to work in various licensed stations after the closedown of the pirates. Adverts include a mixture of brands and local businesses from Cork to Limerick and there is a job search slot and a promo for the forthcoming ERI Nike road race. News headlines are read by John O’Connor at half-past the hour and three minutes to.

The recording was made on Monday 2nd September 1985 from 97.1 FM between 1413-1543 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.  

Saturday morning on Cork’s ERI

Saturday morning on Cork's ERI
Cover of undated ERI station leaflet (Anoraks Ireland collection).

ERI was one of Ireland’s most successful pirate stations, broadcasting from County Cork and later Cork City between 1982 and 1988. After installing a 5kW AM transmitter on 1305 kHz (225 metres) in 1983, it gained dominance among listeners and advertisers in Munster. The station could also be heard further afield at night due to AM propagation, as in this recording made in Kidderminster in the English midlands in the winter of 1983.

It begins with the end of Mark Lawrence’s Saturday breakfast show, which is followed by news read by John O’Connor. Next up is the children’s programme Junior Club. Commercial breaks feature adverts for local businesses and for brands and include the voice of John Blake (real name John Creedon), who would go on to become a well-known RTÉ presenter. There is plenty of deep fading in the recording due to the distance from the AM transmitter. The tape was made on Saturday 26th November 1983 from 0845-0900 from 1305 kHz and is from the Leon Tipler Collection, donated to us by Steve England.

The Anoraks Ireland Digitisation Project

The Anoraks Ireland Digitisation Project
A small part of the enormous Anoraks Ireland Collection as photographed by Eddie Bohan.

Anoraks Ireland was a one-stop resource for Irish radio enthusiasts of the 1980s and early 1990s allowing them to buy or swap cassette recordings and other materials relating to the hundreds of pirate radio stations that existed back then. The organisation extensively documented the unique golden era of pirate radio in the form of photographs, magazines, detailed bandscans, station surveys and much more.

Earlier this year, Anoraks Ireland founder Paul Davidson agreed to donate his vast collection of Irish radio materials to the Irish Pirate Radio Archive at Dublin City University. The materials, primarily from the pirate radio era of the 80s, offer a fascinating insight into the Irish broadcasting landscape of the time and consist of thousands of cassette recordings, photos of DJs, studios and transmitter sites, advertising rate cards, newspaper cuttings along with lots of other materials. The Irish Pirate Radio Archive, in association with ourselves at Pirate.ie and with Radiowaves.fm, are in the process of digitising the huge collection and are about to start archiving it across the three websites. We all look forward to making this invaluable collection available to historians, students and visitors to our websites. The digitisation teams are John Walsh and Brian Greene of Pirate.ie, Eddie Bohan of the Irish Pirate Radio Archive and Irish Broadcasting Hall of Fame and John Fleming of Radiowaves.fm.

The Anoraks Ireland Digitisation Project
Original label of this recording in the Anoraks Ireland Collection.

We kick off with recordings of Cork super-pirate ERI from 1456-1542 on Thursday 3rd November 1988. On air are Pamela Wilson, previously of WLS in Galway and Radio West in Mullingar, and Joe Reilly on news. These were recorded from 97.7 FM in stereo and ERI also broadcast on 1305 kHz (announcing 225 metres). The recording above runs from 1456-1542 and the one below from 1543-1629.

2nd part of Pamela Wilson recording.

These recordings are from the Anoraks Ireland Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.