Northeast series Archives - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

11th April 202530th March 2025

Northeast series: Kieran Murray on Radio Carousel Drogheda

The Louth station Radio Carousel developed many satellite stations during its long existence (1978-1988). Apart from the headquarters in Dundalk, at various times it had stations in Navan (Co. Meath), Drogheda (Co. Louth), Castleblayney (Co. Monaghan) and on the border aimed at Newry (Co. Armagh/Co. Down). The model was for satellites to run their own programming but link up with Dundalk for certain programmes, for instance Country Call presented by station owner Hugh Hardy (RIP). The first satellite service was opened in Drogheda in 1982 and claimed coverage of south Co. Louth and north Co. Dublin. The studios were based in the Boyne Valley Hotel but it was difficult for the station to gain a hold in Drogheda due to the dominance of Boyneside Radio in the town.

This short recording of Radio Carousel Drogheda features a familiar voice on the station, Kieran Murray, presenting an afternoon musical mix, interspersed with adverts and community announcements. The airchecked recording was made by Kieran from around 1500 on Wednesday 19^th May 1982 from 99.4 FM and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection. Radio Carousel Drogheda also broadcast on 1413 kHz, announcing 215 metres.

7th April 202519th February 2025

Northeast series: Plenty of requests on Telstar Community Radio

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Telstar Community Radio (1980-1988) was a long-running pirate station broadcasting from in and around Dundalk in Co. Louth. Despite stiff competition from other stations in the small county, especially Radio Carousel, it held its own and carved out a niche in the local market.

This short recording of Telstar gives a flavour of afternoon programming in 1982. An unidentified DJ reads out plenty of requests from listeners, there is an oldies spot and sports results are promised. The station also offers a chance to win tickets to a concert by Irish traditional band Clannad, who were making waves at the time. One of the most familiar voices on Telstar, Ray Stone, is heard on many of the adverts for businesses in and around Dundalk.

This airchecked recording was made by Kieran Murray from around 1400 on 13^th May 1982 from 1197 kHz (announcing 250 metres) and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection. Audio is of DX quality as the recording was made outside the core listening area in north Louth.

27th March 202520th February 2025

Northeast series: Drogheda radio split reaches a head in 1982

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Due to a split in the Drogheda station Boyneside Radio in July 1981, the Co. Louth town gained a second station calling itself Community Radio Drogheda (CRD). A detailed history of the split is available here but in summary, the two rival stations attempted to undercut each other for the best part of 10 months in a small town with limited advertising revenue. To complicate matters, Boyneside Radio experimented with television during this period and attempted to open another station in Navan, Co. Meath. By April 1982, the situation had reached breaking point, with CRD running out of money and DJs leaving for other stations in Dublin. After negotiations, the two camps made peace and Boyneside Radio regained its position as the sole Drogheda station in early May.

This recording from April 1982 of both Boyneside Radio and CRD was made before the merger and gives a sense of the situation at the time. First up is Owen Barry (Owen Larkin) with his lunchtime show on Boyneside, including the Angelus bell at midday. Also of interest is an advert by Fianna Fáil, as politicians would later be censured by their parties for doing interviews on pirate radio. Next up is CRD with the voices of Richard Kenny (Richard Crowley), Eddie Caffrey, Dermot Finglas and Gavin Duffy presenting a lunchtime chat show. Gavin refers to plans for a new schedule and even a public meeting to discuss the development of the service with listeners, but the writing was on the wall for CRD at that stage.

The recording of Boyneside was made on 5^th April 1982 from 98.1 FM and that of CRD on 6^th April from 1305 kHz AM, announcing 225 metres. Boyneside also announced 225 but broadcast on 1323 kHz during this time as well as FM. We have done our best during the digitisation process but audio quality is fair to poor due to cassette degradation. The tape was made by Kieran Murray and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.

9th August 20242nd August 2024

Northeast series: Morning shows on Telstar Community Radio

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Telstar Community Radio (1980-1988) was a long-running pirate station based in and around Dundalk in Co. Louth. Despite stiff competition from Radio Carousel in the same town, Telstar built up and maintained its own listeners and advertisers throughout its time on air. This recording of Telstar was made in 1986, just after it had moved back into Dundalk from the village of Blackrock to the south, where it had spent the previous four years.

The recording begins with the breakfast show presented by Alex Evans, with news headlines on the half-hour and a mixture of chart, pop and easy-listening music. There are adverts for local businesses and branded station jingles. The second part of the tape begins with Alex handing over to Ray Stone for his mid-morning show until lunchtime. Ray promises an eclectic music mix including charts, ballads, céilí and rock and roll. He also shares community notices and trivia news items, apologising to listeners for the temporary absence of a phoneline following the move back into Dundalk.

The recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection and was made on Wednesday 30^th April 1986 between 0652-0740 and 0956-1044 from 88.5 FM. Audible levels are variable and there is some distortion in places, due either to an on-air issue at the time or the cassette itself. Telstar also broadcast on 1197 kHz, announcing 250 metres.

24th July 202415th June 2024

Northeast series: FRC show #35 on Radio Rainbow International

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This is another episode of the Free Radio Campaign (FRC) on Louth shortwave station Radio Rainbow International (1985-1988). It is presented by Kieran Murray, who describes Radio Rainbow as the biggest free shortwave station in Europe at the time. The Louth station operated on much higher power than other Irish shortwave pirates, and received reception reports from across Europe during its three years on air.

Episode #35 of the FRC show contains Boola Boola by Drifter Sound, the theme tune to Radio Dublin, which was then celebrating its 20^th birthday. There’s the customary 5-minute sweep of jingles and a feature on early 1980s stations ARD and Southside Radio. The free radio newsdesk includes information about the raid on KISS FM in Dublin earlier that month.

The recording was made on Sunday 12^th October 1986 from 1100-1200 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection. This is a studio copy but Radio Rainbow International at this time broadcast on 6240 kHz shortwave and the FRC show was relayed on various stations in Ireland and elsewhere.