Louth Archives - Page 3 of 19 - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

29th May 202412th May 2024

Northeast series: FRC show #7 on Radio Rainbow International

Radio Rainbow International (1985-1988) was a high-powered shortwave station broadcasting from Co. Louth. Set up by Eddie Caffrey of Boyneside Radio, it also involved other Boyneside DJs Jim Agnew and Kieran Murray, who presented a weekly Free Radio Campaign (FRC) show. This recording of edition #7 of the FRC features listeners’ letters from the UK, 5 minutes of jingles from offshore stations, a feature on Sussex station Automatic Radio and promos for Anoraks UK.

This studio copy of the show is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection and was made on Sunday 16^th February 1986 from 1100-1200. There is some wobble due to cassette degradation and the show is truncated because the cassette jammed and it was not possible to complete digitisation. Radio Rainbow International broadcast initially on 6240 kHz shortwave in the 48-metre band, before adding medium wave and FM transmitters.

8th May 20241st May 2024

Northeast series: 1st birthday of Radio Rainbow International

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Radio Rainbow International was a high-powered shortwave station broadcasting from Co. Louth between 1985-1988. It was set up by the engineer of Boyneside Radio, Eddie Caffrey and other Boyneside presenters were also involved. Radio Rainbow was the highest powered of the shortwave pirates from Ireland and broadcast every Sunday morning across Europe on 6240 kHz in the 48-metre band, later adding medium wave and FM.

On Sunday 27^th July 1986, Radio Rainbow International celebrated a year on the air, complete with cake and champagne in the studio. This recording opens with the final 15 minutes of a special celebratory show from 1145-1200 on that date presented by Eddie Caffrey, who is joined by fellow DJs Jim Agnew and Kieran Murray. They estimate that up to 350 reception reports have been received in the station’s first year, the furthest of which came from Finland. Kieran Murray looks back at the popular weekly Free Radio Campaign (FRC) show, that has been running since January. This is followed by Jim Agnew’s music show on the same date. There are no times, but it seems it was broadcast before the special birthday programme. The recording includes promos for Anoraks UK and a multilingual ident.

At this time, Radio Rainbow International broadcast on 6240 kHz, but this is a stereo studio copy. It is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection.

12th April 20242nd April 2024

Northeast series: Telstar Community Radio in the evening

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Early Telstar Community Radio letterhead (courtesy Ian Biggar).

Telstar Community Radio was a long-running station broadcasting from in or around Dundalk between 1980 and 1988. Although Radio Carousel dominated the local market for most of that time, Telstar built up its own audience and advertisers in the north Louth area. This recording features a flavour of evening shows during the period that the station was based in the village of Blackrock south of Dundalk. First up is Eamon Doyle with a mix of tunes, including the Top 3 from the Telstar Top 40. He is followed by Owen Barry (Larkin) with the Night Flight show, including an hour of love songs. There are adverts for businesses in Dundalk and surrounding towns.

The recording was made from 88.5 FM on Monday 26^th July 1982 from 1943-2118. Telstar Community Radio also broadcast on 1197 kHz AM, announcing 250 metres. Audio quality is generally good although there is some cassette degradation. The tape is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.

19th January 20247th August 2024

Northeast series: Summer shows on Boyneside Radio

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

This recording features excerpts from two shows on Boyneside Radio from Co. Louth in the summer of 1984. Boyneside was 6 years on the air at this stage and had grown into one of the largest regional radio stations in Ireland, with its main studios in Drogheda. The tape begins with an aircheck of Declan McGowan’s Saturday night show between 2000-2130 on 11^th August 1984. Requests are heard from both sides of the border along with plenty of adverts and a few clunky chopped-up jingles. Declan began presenting on Boyneside in 1982 when he was just 15 and he remained with the station until it closed at the end of 1988.

This is followed by an aircheck of Daire Nelson’s breakfast show from 0745-0930 on Monday 13^th August 1984. Some of the comments are a bit off by today’s standards but the recording also underlines Daire’s real talent as a broadcaster. News is read by Shane Harrison, who went off to work for BBC Northern Ireland. The tape was recorded from 98.1 FM by Kieran Murray and is part of the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection. Audio quality is generally very good but there is a buzz at the start, which may have been due to an issue with the recording device.

10th January 20246th January 2024

Northeast series: Friday night on Telstar Community Radio

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Telstar logo (courtesy Ian Biggar).

Telstar Community Radio broadcast from in and around the Dundalk area between 1980 and 1988. Despite stiff competition from bigger local stations Radio Carousel and Boyneside Radio, it built up and maintained its own audience. The station was first located in Dundalk, moving south to the village of Blackrock in 1982 before returning to Dundalk in 1986. The main frequencies used for most of its existence were 1197 kHz AM and 88.5 FM. Telstar closed down along with other pirates at midnight on New Year’s Eve 1988.

This recording is of part of Dave Ritchie’s Friday night show, including chart hits and some oldies, along with adverts for mostly Dundalk-based businesses. There are news headlines on the hour and some notices, including mention of a local gig by British pop star Howard Jones. The tape was recorded from 88.5 FM on 13^th March 1987 from 1830-2006. Another station is heard briefly at about the half-way point, possibly an earlier recording on the same cassette.

The tape was made originally by John Gartlan and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.