Radio Leinster Archives - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

9th September 20241st September 2024

Evening drivetime with DJ Lee on Radio Leinster

Radio Leinster was a multi-format station broadcasting to Dublin and surrounding areas from 1981-1983. The music style was MOR/easy-listening and there were also specialist programmes covering a wide range of genres.

This recording features a familiar voice on the Dublin pirates, DJ Lee, presenting the evening Bumper to Bumper show. The programme includes traffic reports, a listeners’ competition, featured albums, the Ramble Around Dublin slot, TV movies and a city events guide. Adverts are heard for businesses throughout Dublin and news on the hour is read by Gary Miley, who would later work for Sunshine Radio and eventually RTÉ. News at 1900 is edited out but Lee is followed by Conor Brooks with a Top 40 show, presumably one of Radio Leinster’s specialist programmes. Conor would later be heard on alternative/indie station Capitol/Nitesky 96.

Radio Leinster broadcast on 738 kHz AM (announcing 406 metres), using a professionally-built 1kW transmitter, and on 93 FM. It closed suddenly on 19^th May 1983, following the raids on Sunshine and Radio Nova. This recording was made from FM on Tuesday 18^th January 1983 between 1730 and 1908 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.

11th May 202410th May 2024

Late night on Radio Leinster

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Radio Leinster was an easy-listening and talk-based station broadcasting to the Dublin area in the early 1980s. It launched on 29^th April 1981 and closed suddenly on 19^th May 1983 following the raids on the main Dublin stations Radio Nova and Sunshine Radio. This recording of Late Night Leinster was made about a week before the station left the airwaves and features the managing director Justin James presenting laid-back music. There are few adverts reflecting the time of night and Justin announces that Radio Leinster will close down for the night at 0200.

The recording is from the Anoraks Ireland collection and was made from 93 FM on Wednesday 11^th May 1983 from 0037 to 0146. Radio Leinster also broadcast on 738 kHz AM, announcing 406 metres medium wave. Its elevated site in Sandyford overlooking the city and professional transmitter gave it good coverage by day but the station suffered co-channel interference after dark.

3rd June 20236th June 2023

Religious programme on Radio Leinster

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Radio Leinster was a specialist Dublin station with an easy listening and talk format in contrast with the diet of pop preferred by most pirates. It broadcast from 29^th April 1981 until 19^th May 1983, closing down suddenly as panic spread following the raids on super-pirates Radio Nova and Sunshine Radio. Radio Leinster was situated on an elevated site in Sandyford with an excellent view of the city from its studios. The professionally-made 1 kW transmitter on 738 kHz (406 metres) gave good coverage by day but suffered co-channel interference after dark.

This short recording from Sunday 13^th September 1981 features part of a religious programme presented by Fr. Michael Conaghty, who reads headlines from the Catholic Universe. Some of Radio Leinster’s distinctive interval signals are also heard. The clip was recorded in Malahide, north Co. Dublin and is from the Leon Tipler Tapes Collection, donated to us by Steve England.

19th May 20222nd May 2024

Final morning of Radio Leinster

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Radio Leinster was one of Dublin’s niche pirates, featuring an easy listening and chat format in contrast with the chart music played on many stations. It began on 29^th April 1981 from an elevated site in Sandyford overlooking the city. A professional 1 kW transmitter on 738 kHz travelled well by day but was subject to interference at night.

These recordings are of interest because they are from the last day of Radio Leinster, 19^th May 1983. Like many other stations, Radio Leinster was spooked by the raids on Radio Nova and Sunshine and closed down suddenly at lunchtime. The first recording above begins at 1020 and gives no impression of a crisis, with DJ Mike Moran even announcing a competition. News at 1100 is read by Anna Craig (Anna Chisnall, who would later work in RTÉ). Sadly, Radio Leinster was never to return but future pirates in the same easy listening vein would be Magic 103, KISS FM (for a period) and KLAS.

Radio Leinster presenters included many experienced broadcasters and launched the careers of others. One of the station’s presenters was Gavin Duffy who led the consortium to be awarded the local radio licence for counties Meath and Louth in 1989. Peter Mulryan’s book Radio Radio (1988) reports that in 1982 Duffy announced that he would interview senior Sinn Féin figures including Gerry Adams, in breach of Section 31 of the Broadcasting Act. The station received a warning from the Department of Posts and Telegraphs and Duffy was fired.

The recording below is part of Al Dunne’s final show on Radio Leinster from 1124-1159 on 19^th May, who says he will be on air until 2pm. There are indirect references to the raids and Al plays Les Crane’s ‘Desiderata’, the song used by Sunshine Radio at closedown every night. Sunshine had been raided a few hours previously. Listen here to the sudden closedown of Radio Leinster at just after 1pm.

Al Dunne’s show from 1100.

These recordings were made from 93 FM and are from both the Skywave Tapes Collection and the Anoraks Ireland Collection.

1st August 20219th March 2024

Dublin bandscan from 1981

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This is a bandscan of radio as heard on AM and FM in Dublin in August 1981 by Leon Tipler on one of his many visits in Dublin to document the local pirate scene. The scan gives a sense of the sheer volume of stations on AM and the less crowded FM band, where British stations could regularly be heard due to lack of congestion. We don’t have a precise date but part of the recording was made on a Sunday.

The bandscan begins on FM with Belfast station Downtown Radio’s closedown with a read- through of the next day’s schedule. This is followed by unidentified Irish and British stations on FM and céilí music on RTÉ Radio 1. Leon then switches to AM and tunes past foreign stations before settling on Radio City on 257 metres where Brian Harmon is signing off for the night. This is followed by classical music on what sounds like Radio 1 again. A live ad is read out by the DJ for the new Sunday Tribune newspaper on Sunshine Radio on AM and Leon then switches to Radio Nova on 88 FM. This is followed by exchanges from air traffic control, as was the norm on part of the FM band in those days.

The scan then returns to AM and Radio Leinster on 738 kHz (406 metres) where Anna Craig is signing off at the end of her Sunday morning show. She is followed by Fr. Michael Culloty with a religious programme. The bandscan ends with more AM stations include ARD and part of the Disco Format show on Sunshine.

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