Northeast series Archives - Page 6 of 17 - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

14th February 202214th February 2022

Boyneside Radio from Kells, Co. Meath

In its ten years on air, Boyneside Radio expanded from a local station for Drogheda in Co. Louth to a large regional service that could be heard across the northeast of Ireland. It also had various relay transmitters and opt-out services focusing on local audiences. One such service was based in the town of Kells, covering Co. Meath and south Co. Cavan.

Today we bring you two recordings of Boyneside Radio Kells from early 1986. The first one above is an airchecked version of Tony Johnson’s show made from about 1340 on Sunday 12^th January. There are promos for the new service, which is aimed at Meath and south Cavan, and plenty of local advertisements. Monaghan’s Sport Centre, Kells is given as an address and there is also a local phone number. The second recording below is also airchecked and begins just before 1700 on Monday 13^th January. It features Eddie Caffrey signing off on his Afternoon Delight show from Drogheda, followed by news with Áine Ní Ghuidhir and a local programme from Kells with Ian Scott. Both were recorded from 100.3 FM in mono. Boyneside Radio Kells also broadcast on 1323 kHz AM.

Aircheck from just before 1700.

These recordings were made by Kieran Murray, who managed the Boyneside Kells service. They are part of the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson. Listen to Kieran’s memories of moving to Boyneside in this interview. Further material from the Anoraks Ireland collection is available on Radiowaves and the Irish Pirate Radio Archive.

10th February 202214th February 2022

Morning shows on Boyneside Radio in 1985

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This is a selection of clips from morning programmes on Boyneside Radio in 1985, recorded from its Drogheda FM transmitter on 98.1 MHz in stereo. First up is the 7am bulletin, seemingly pre-recorded and featuring news from Northern Ireland. This is followed by the Dara Nelson breakfast show, which includes an interesting promo covering all Boyneside’s frequencies, a Pause for Thought, news headlines at 8am with Áine Ní Ghuidhir and the Top 30 countdown. Next up is the mid-morning show presented by Dave C., including news at 10am, which reports a car bomb blast in Newry just a short time before.

This airchecked recording was made on 6^th March 1985 between 0700 and 1000. It is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson. It was recorded originally by Kieran Murray. Further material from this collection can be found on Radiowaves and the Irish Pirate Radio Archive.

9th February 202224th March 2024

Excerpts from a day on Boyneside Radio in 1983

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Boyneside compliments slip (courtesy Ian Biggar).

This is an airchecked recording of daytime and evening programming on Boyneside Radio from Drogheda on Good Friday, 3rd April 1983. It includes excerpts from the breakfast show with Dara Nelson, Dave C.’s Golden Oldies Show, sports news at 6.30pm, Country Convoy with Seán Neilon and Nightbeat with Neil O’Brien. The voices of Eddie Caffrey, Dave C., Dermot Finglas, Daire Nelson and Áine Ní Ghuidhir are heard on adverts. One spot for the Augustinian religious order stands out from the more familiar ads for local businesses! The selection from different times of the day gives a good flavour of the variety heard on Boyneside at the time.

Excerpts from a day on Boyneside Radio in 1983 — Anoraks Ireland cassette label (the correct date is 3rd April).

The recording was made from 98.1 FM in mono and is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson. It was recorded originally by Kieran Murray. Further material from this collection can be found on Radiowaves and the Irish Pirate Radio Archive.

7th February 202214th January 2024

Morning shows on Boyneside Radio

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This is a recording of morning programmes on Boyneside Radio from early 1983. Following the merger with the breakaway Community Radio Drogheda, the station was making headway again and advertising from the town was plentiful. Part 1 of the recording above was made from 98.4 FM in mono and runs from 0906-0954 on Friday 21^st January 1983. It features Daire Nelson on the breakfast show and includes a comedy slot involving a call to the Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda as well as a weekly sentence in Irish. There are requests from Drogheda, Dundalk, Duleek and Navan. Dara is followed by the late Dave C. at 0930.

Part 2 below is from 0957-1045 and includes the One Minute of Pop quiz and news with Shane Harrison, who now works as BBC Northern Ireland’s Dublin correspondent.

Part 2 of the recording.

This recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.

4th February 20223rd February 2022

Teatime on Boyneside Radio

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In July 1981, a split in Boyneside Radio led to the breakaway station Community Radio Drogheda and the town had two rival stations for the best part of a year. This recording was made in July 1982, shortly after the two stations merged once again. There was some variation in the name around this time: the cassette label refers to Boyneside Community Radio and ‘Boyneside/CRD’ was used on air until the late summer, when the station reverted to Boyneside. Read more about Community Radio Drogheda here.

The recording was made from 1500-1535 on 19^th July 1982 from 99.5 FM in mono. The presenter is Boyneside stalwart Eddie Caffrey with the afternoon ‘teatime’ slot and a lost-and-found section. News is read by Gerry Malone, another well-known Boyneside voice. There is some wobble on the cassette due to deterioration over the decades.

This recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson. Further material from this collection can be found on Radiowaves and the Irish Pirate Radio Archive.