ERI Archives - Page 3 of 5 - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

2nd December 20206th August 2021

Overnight ERI as heard in the English midlands

Today we bring you another late-night recording of the Cork pirate giant ERI as heard by the British radio enthusiast Leon Tipler at his home in the English midlands. Tipler (1942-2013) began his radio career on the offshore stations in the 1960s. He made extensive recordings of Irish radio and visited Ireland on many occasions. Recordings of ERI and other Cork stations are to be heard in his renowned documentary covering the early 1980s pirate stations.

This recording was was made from 1305 kHz on 3^rd June 1983 from 0030-0105 and 0320-0350. On air is Liam Quigley followed by Ian Richards with the Night Shift programme and overnight news is read by John O’Connor. Despite the distance between Cork and Kidderminster, the signal is reasonable and the fading only adds to the sense of magic of pulling in distant stations on the crowded AM band of the time.

ERI began its life in Ballycotton east of Cork City in summer 1982 using about 200 watts of power on 1305 kHz. After investing in a professional 5 kW US-manufactured transmitter in September that year and moving to Cork City, it quickly established itself as the region’s biggest pirate.

This recording is from the Leon Tipler Tapes Collection, donated to us by Steve England.

30th November 202015th February 2025

Cork station ERI as recorded by Leon Tipler

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This week we bring you recordings of the large Cork station ERI as recorded by British radio enthusiast Leon Tipler at his home in the English midlands.

ERI began in the village of Ballycotton to the east of Cork City in July 1982 when it was known as Cork Eastside Radio and then Eastside Radio Ireland. It broadcast on 1305 kHz AM and 102 FM locally. In September 1982, ERI, as the station was then known, invested in a high-powered 5 kW AM transmitter and moved its studios to portacabins at White’s Cross in the northern suburbs of Cork City. 1332 kHz was used for just a few days but after complaints from Suirside Radio who were on the same frequency in Waterford, ERI reverted to the original 1305 channel.

ERI was run by the O’Connor family and the AM transmitter and mast were located about a kilometre from the portacabins at Progress Engineering which they also owned. ERI became the largest and most successful pirate in Cork and continued until the closedowns at the end of 1988. It applied unsuccessfully for a licence when these were advertised in 1989.

This recording was made on 25^th May 1983 from 2300-0005 in Kidderminster in England, about 430km from Cork. The DJ is Liam Quigley, who would go on to work on many licensed stations, and news is read by John O’Connor. Interesting this is shortly after the raids on Radio Nova and Sunshine in Dublin on May 19^th which caused many stations, including ERI, to close temporarily as a precaution.

Reception features characteristic night-time skywave propagation but the signal is quite listenable and is a testament to the power of the transmitter and skill of station engineer Robin Adcroft. This recording is from the Leon Tipler Tapes Collection, donated to us by Steve England.

31st July 20206th August 2021

Full recording: Radio Carousel (Dundalk)

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This is another recording of Radio Carousel Dundalk made on two consecutive days, 30^th and 31^st May 1985 from 101 FM. First up is a segment from the evening show presented by Dave Scott (aka Joe Reilly, RIP) from 2240 to 2325 on the 30^th. The classified ads at 2300 include Bruce Springsteen tickets for the forthcoming concert in Slane, various cars for sale, a JCB driver for hire, roofing services, Kerr’s pink potatoes for sale and a BBC colour television aerial!

This is followed by part of the next day’s breakfast programme presented by Mike Ahern (aka Richard McCullen) from 0815 to 0900 on the 31^st. It sounds like a one-man show at times as Mike’s voice can be heard on several ads and he also reads news headlines at 0830. However there is no shortage of advertising and there are requests too, including for children on their way to school.

Richard McCullen went on to work in the local licensed station LMFM. Joe Reilly (using that name) went on to work at ERI in Cork and later licensed station Radio Kerry. We thank Gary Camblin for this recording.

16th June 20206th August 2021

Documentary: The Irish Pirates (Volume 7)

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Continuing with Part 3 of Leon Tipler’s documentary ‘The Irish Pirates’, we hear more from the Cork radio scene in 1983 and also learn about the Limerick pirates. The hour begins with a visit to the 10 kW South Coast Radio AM transmitter site in Cork in the company of John Lewis. That is followed by a visit to ERI and an interview with veteran broadcaster Don Allen. There is also a rare insight into the earliest days of the Cork pirates in an interview with Con McParland. Tipler then continues to Limerick where he calls into two local stations, Big L and Raidió Luimní. The episode concludes with interviews with Mike Richardson of Big L and the popular John ‘the Man’ Frawley of Raidió Luimní.

This recording is from the Leon Tipler Tapes Collection, donated to us by Steve England.

Index to Volume 7

00:00 Visit to South Coast Radio TX site
09:11 Visit to ERI studios
16:30 Interview with Don Allen
25:00 ERI heard in UK
26:10 John Lewis on South Coast Radio
27:45 Interview with Con McParland of Radio Sundown
30:00 Visit to Limerick
30:50 Raidió Luimní
33:00 Big L
35:00 Visit to Big L
36:50 Interview with Mike Richardson
44:05 John ‘the Man’ Frawley on Raidió Luimní
46:06 Visit to Raidió Luimní
49:00 Interview with John ‘the Man’ Frawley

15th June 20206th August 2021

Documentary: The Irish Pirates (Volume 6)

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Continuing Part 3 of Leon Tipler’s acclaimed documentary ‘The Irish Pirates’, episode 6 looks at the pirate scene in Waterford and Cork in 1983. The hour begins with more from Suirside Radio in Waterford and an interesting discussion about the nature of community radio at the time. Tipler then moves on to Waterford Local Radio (WLR) before continuing his visit to Cork where he visits ERI, Cork City Local Radio (CCLR) and South Coast Radio. We get an insight into the rivalry between local press and the pirates and between the larger stations ERI and South Coast.

This recording is from the Leon Tipler Tapes Collection, donated to us by Steve England.

Index to Volume 6

00:00 Visit to Suirside Radio (cont. from Vol. 5)
07:30 Visit to WLR
07:30 WLR news and Dermot Graham show
23:00 Visit to Cork
23:15 Community Radio Youghal
24:55 CCLR
25:35 Don Allen on ERI
27:30 South Coast Radio
28:40 CCLR
28:55 ERI
29:05 South Coast Radio
31:00 Visit to CCLR
41:15 Rivalry between local press and pirates
47:10 Don Stevens on South Coast Radio
50:00 Visit to South Coast Radio
53:00 Interview with John Lewis
56:00 South Coast Radio £1,000 giveaway