Moonlight Radio on test transmission

Moonlight Radio on test transmission

Moonlight Radio was a shortlived hobby station broadcasting on AM in 1983 from the Glasnevin area of north Dublin. According to former DJ Joe Doyle in an interview with Pirate.ie, Moonlight was set up by Damian McTiernan and used just 50 watts of power. The name was due to the fact that it only came on air at night.

This recording was made from 266 metres/1125 kHz and features Dominic Heary who gives out a phone number for requests and reception reports. Dominic says that the station is back for another test broadcast but is on reduced power and this is confirmed by night-time fading heard during the recording, which was made only about 10km away. The same frequency was used by Radio Carousel in Dundalk and the co-channel interference at times may be from the Louth station.

Unusually there are no times or date on the recording but we estimate it to be from December 1983. The tape is from the Skywaves Collection. Radio Skywave International was a 1980s shortwave station broadcasting from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin.

Westside Radio International returns for New Year’s Eve 1989

Westside Radio International returns for New Year's Eve 1989
Westside operator Prince Terry in May 1983 (Anoraks Ireland Collection).

Westside Radio International was a long-running shortwave pirate broadcasting on Sunday morning from Dublin between 1975 and 1989 with later appearances under different names including Ozone Radio. The station was set up by the late Don Moore and was taken over by Roger Lloyd (Prince Terry on air) in 1977. It was steeped in the pirate spirit and created a real sense of community among free radio enthusiasts in Ireland and abroad. The station closed down on 31st December 1988 along with the vast majority of Irish pirates but returned for a special commemorative broadcast exactly one year later.

This airchecked recording was made between 1123 and 1253 on 31st December 1989 from 6280 kHz shortwave. Prince Terry announces that Westside has returned just for that day to mark the first anniversary of the pirate closedowns and says that it is also broadcasting on FM and medium wave. There are greetings to well-known radio anoraks and news about the small number of remaining pirate stations, including Radio Dublin which is said to have switched back on its AM transmitter.

Audio is fair to poor with deep fading but is an authentic representation of how Westside sounded on shortwave in the west of Ireland at the time. The recording was made in Co. Clare by John Breslin, who we thank for the donation.

Sunday shows on Radio Skywave International

Sunday shows on Radio Skywave International

Radio Skywave International was a shortwave station that broadcast from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin on Sunday mornings from 1985 to 1988. Skywave was one of many hobby shortwave stations broadcasting from Ireland during the pirate era. It was heard on 6260 kHz in the 48-metre band for the first two years or so and later moved to 6850 kHz.

These recordings were made on Sunday 1st December 1985. The first hour above runs from 1100-1200 and is an edition of the Free Radio Programme presented by Dominic Dillon and Fergal. The show includes historical recordings including Radio Leinster on its final day, 19th May 1983, a Christmas Day pantomime from Sunshine Radio (undated but possibly 1984) and Radio Dublin from Christmas Day 1984. There are the usual features on the medium wave, FM and shortwave bands. Free radio news includes mention of a test broadcast by Skywave later in the month on 7475 kHz. The address of PO Box 1686, Dublin 1 is given and there is a promo for Anoraks Ireland.

Sunday shows on Radio Skywave International
Original cassette from Anoraks Ireland Collection.

The second hour below consists of the Mailbag Show presented by station operator Michael Caine (Hegarty) from 1200-1300. He reads out letters and reception reports from Sweden, England and several from East Germany. There are more promos for Anoraks Ireland and Wavelength magazine.  

Mailbag show from 1200.

Radio Skywave International began broadcasting on 29th July 1985 and continued intermittently on Sunday mornings until 12th June 1988. Both recordings are studio copies and are from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson. Radio Skywave International itself donated a large collection of recordings to Pirate.ie.  

Closedown of Big Beat Radio

Closedown of Big Beat Radio
Peter Walsh on Big Beat Radio in 1986 (photo Brian Greene).

Big Beat Radio is especially important to us as it involved both co-founders of Pirate.ie, Brian Greene and John Walsh. The station began broadcasting on June 17th 1986 in a room belonging to the community centre on the seafront in the suburb of Baldoyle in northeast Dublin. There were six founders, all of whom were 16: Brian Greene (Bobby Gibbson* on air), Dónal Greene, Michael Redmond, Peter Walsh, Brian Hegarty and Mark Tynan. John Walsh was a year younger and joined as a newsreader and occasional DJ.

Big Beat was on air for seven weeks of the summer school holidays. The original plan was to go on AM with the copper wires running along the seafront behind the studio but the station ended up on FM. Around the same time, the Carroll’s Irish Open Golf tournament was held across the estuary in Portmarnock about 400 metres from the studio. RTÉ set up a dedicated radio station for the tournament on 96.6 FM, forcing Big Beat to move down to 96.2 at the last minute.

Closedown of Big Beat Radio
Brian Greene (top) and Mark McGuinness set up the studio (from Brian’s collection).

Power was about 15 watts but the mast wasn’t more than 20 feet off the ground and therefore the signal didn’t travel far. Audio quality was poor with levels very uneven. The single microphone was wrapped in a cloth to prevent popping and taped to a wooden banister which protruded from a scratchy mixer dating from the 1960s. Two turntables, a cassette deck and headphones completed the studio set-up.

Closedown of Big Beat Radio
A radio theme prevails at the site in 2022. The studio was through the door (photo John Walsh).

The studio heated up easily and the door to the green outside was usually left open, with a result that passing buses were often heard during shows. The room was invariably crammed with friends of the DJ so keeping people quiet during links was a challenge. News was presented from 11am until 6pm each day and was lifted from RTÉ, BBC and other pirates. The newsroom was in a stifling disused toilet with no window.

There was no phone at Big Beat, so the telephone box across the road was used for requests. The postal address was 3A Brookstone Road, Baldoyle where co-founder Peter Walsh lived. Sunshine Radio engineer Peter Gibney (RIP) visited one evening because of interference caused to the transmitter in Portmarnock a few kilometres to the north. Big Beat also ran discos for visiting Spanish students at the community centre next door.  

Closedown of Big Beat Radio
2016 reunion at the phone box. L-R: Dónal Greene, Brian Greene, Peter Walsh, Mark Tynan, Michael Redmond, Brian Hegarty (photo John Walsh).

Big Beat closed suddenly at 6pm on Friday August 8th with Don’t You Forget About Me by Simple Minds. This recording is of the final hour from that day. Two of the Big Beat founders, Brian Greene and Peter Walsh, went on to set up Centre Radio, another part-time station that operated from Baldoyle and neighbouring Bayside from Christmas 1986 to the end of 1988. For more memories of Big Beat, see here.

* No, it’s not a typo: the extra ‘b’ in Gibbson was deliberate because the name was fake.

Galway oldies station Swinging Radio Impulse

Galway oldies station Swinging Radio Impulse
The set-up at Swinging Radio Impulse c. 1987 (Anoraks Ireland Collection).

Swinging Radio Impulse (SRI) was a small hobby pirate station broadcasting from Galway city centre in 1987 and 1988. It was run by the late John Steele (on-air name Carl Turner), who had a large vinyl collection and was something of an authority on various musical styles from the 1950s on. SRI dubbed itself ‘Ireland’s only oldies station’ and was on air mostly in the evenings and at weekends. Precise dates are unknown, but in July 1987 Anoraks Ireland listed a ‘Radio Impulse’ on 95.3 or 96.1 FM in Galway and Swinging Radio Impulse was logged in an Anoraks UK Weekly Report in November that year. It’s not clear when the station closed down. An Anoraks Ireland survey from November 1987 recorded that SRI broadcast on 95.89 FM in mono, announcing 96, with a power of just 5 watts from a house in Bohermore, Galway city centre. Broadcasting hours were 2100-0100 during the week, 0900-1500 on Saturday and 1100-1700 on Sunday.

Galway oldies station Swinging Radio Impulse
Handwritten cassette label from Anoraks Ireland Collection.

This recording was made on 10th November 1987 from 0026-0100 and features Carl Turner with what appears to be a pre-recorded programme for the first half-hour. Audio quality is poor with a lot of hiss but improves when programming goes live. There is an American advert for Old Spice shampoo from the 1960s and music is interspersed with home-made and generic station idents. A promo for Anoraks Ireland is voiced by a young John Walsh, co-founder of Pirate.ie.

Carl Turner also presented an oldies programme on Sunday mornings on commercial Galway station Coast 103. He was also an active member of Galway Radio Club. Thanks to Ciaran McCarthy and Shane Martin for background information. This recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.