Leon Tipler Collection Archives - Page 10 of 13 - 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 20206th August 2021

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.

22nd November 202022nd November 2020

The Pirate.ie Podcast #2

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We’re delighted to announce episode #2 of the Pirate.ie podcast which explores themes covered in our growing archive of Irish pirate radio.

AM broadcasting, widely used by the pirates up to the end of the 1980s, allowed radio signals to travel far and wide beyond the borders of the state. Even small stations could be carried long distances thanks to the magic of night-time AM propagation but dozens of pirates along the border deliberately beamed their signals northwards. With 50 kW of power at its peak, the Dublin super-pirate Radio Nova aimed specifically at the northwest coast of Britain. Ireland also had many hobby shortwave pirates which could be heard thousands of miles from home.

In episode #2, John Walsh and Brian Greene explore how AM spillover, both accidental and deliberate, brought the Irish pirates to a bigger audience.

11th September 20206th August 2021

Full recording: Community Radio Fingal

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Community Radio Fingal (CRF) broadcast from Swords and then Skerries in north Co. Dublin from 1982 to 1988. It began with a 300 watt transmitter but then increased it to 1 kW, and moving from 1584 to 1575 kHz (announced as 189 metres) improved its reception, particularly on the west coast of Britain. Leon Tipler visited CRF in 1982 on one of his visits to Ireland and you can hear an interview with the owner of CRF Brian Matthews here in which he gives information about the station’s history and technical set-up.

Our recording was made from 1575 kHz from 1922-1952 on 1^st July 1983, apparently on the west coast of Britain as it sounds like daytime groundwave reception. Des Lee is on the air with music and community notices. He mentions that CRF is broadcasting from the Castle Shopping Centre in Swords, Co. Dublin and also refers to an FM transmitter on 90 MHz. Audio quality deteriorates towards the end as the cassette has degraded with the passage of time.

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

22nd August 202011th June 2022

Full recording: Radio Carlow

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Radio Carlow began broadcasting in 1981 on 1413 kHz. A report dated 19^th July 1981 by local radio enthusiast John Dowling gave its location as Ballyhide, Co. Carlow but Ballyhide is actually just across the border in Laois. He went on: ‘This station has been on the air three or four months from a rented house two miles from Carlow town. A 70 feet high mast is used to support the aerial. The day’s programmes run from 0630 to 1900 hours GMT’.

DX Archive visited Radio Carlow in 1981 as part of a tour of Ireland. They recorded the station and took the photos featured here. The recording above was made from 1454-1610 on 19^th August 1981 and features John Dempsey on air. Radio Carlow added FM at a later stage and was on air until 1986. Thanks to Ian Biggar for donating the recording and for background information.

Leon Tipler recorded the station from 104 FM as he passed through Carlow in September 1983, on his way to Kilkenny. A snippet of that recording is included in ‘Hello Again’, part 3 of his documentary The Irish Pirates. The original recording, including ads, links a jingle and music, was made on 4^th February 1983 and can be heard below. Other than the date, we have no further information.

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