Radio Leinster Archives - Page 3 of 5 - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

3rd May 20213rd May 2021

Sunday afternoon on Radio Leinster

The British radio enthusiast Leon Tipler visited Ireland regularly in the late 1970s and early 1980s to record the local pirate scene and interview those involved. Pirate.ie has received Tipler’s tapes collection courtesy of Steve England and is delighted to share these as they are digitised.

This is a recording of the easy listening station Radio Leinster on 93 FM from 1440-1607 on Sunday 12^th August 1982 made by Tipler during one of his visits to Dublin. The station also broadcast on 406 metres (738 kHz) and could be heard over a wide area. On air is Mike Moran with an eclectic mix followed by Jean Howard with her choice of easy listening favourites. It was rare enough to hear women’s voices on the pirates but Radio Leinster was an exception and other female presenters included Daphne Mitchell, Anna Craig (aka Chisnell), Shauna Cusack and Anne Kent. Ads are heard for various businesses including the Elvery’s chain of sports shops, Maxime’s Night Club and Lamb Doyle’s restaurant in Sandyford right next door to the station.

30th April 20213rd May 2021

Steve Gordon on Radio Leinster

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This is another early recording of Radio Leinster made just a few days after the station’s launch in 1981. The presenter is the late Steve Gordon who had come from Radio Tees in England and worked in Dublin in the 1980s as a jingle and commercial producer for most stations. The recording was made from 1725-1810 on Friday 1^st May 1981. Steve is standing in for another deceased DJ of the era, Roland Burke. As this was recorded just two days after Radio Leinster’s launch, presumably Roland wasn’t available at the very start of the station.

The music is eclectic including MOR, oldies, disco and pop and clearly Radio Leinster’s easy listening policy was still in gestation. The recording was made in Scotland by Ken Baird and there is severe interference at times. We thank Ian Biggar for the donation.

29th April 202112th May 2024

40 years since the launch of Radio Leinster

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After a fortnight of tests, Radio Leinster launched its new service for Dublin at 7am on Wednesday 29^th April 1981, announcing a frequency of 738 kHz or 406 metres. The first presenter was Eugene Elliott on the breakfast programme who promised competitions, quizzes and a news service in the coming days and weeks. There was easy listening music for the first hour but the style was more varied after 8am. Sports news and a Dublin and European weather forecast also featured. The music policy was fairly mixed in the early days and took a while to settle into the easy listening format for which Radio Leinster became well-known for most of its two-year existence. Formatting was not common in Irish pirate radio at the time but that would soon change with the introduction of strict playlisting by super-pirates such as Sunshine Radio and Radio Nova.

The short airchecked recording above was made in Dublin and includes some of the links in the first show. The longer recording below was made from 0656-0821 but is of poorer quality as it was recorded in Scotland. There is some fading, electrical interference and a heterodyne whistle as the transmitter was slightly off channel in the early days. An FM transmitter on 93 MHz was added at a later stage.

The airchecked recording was made in Dublin by Ger Roe and the longer version was made in Scotland by Ken Baird. Thanks to Ian Biggar for sharing these with us.

28th April 202125th April 2021

Radio Leinster prepares to launch

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Radio Leinster logo (courtesy of David Baker).

Radio Leinster broadcast talk, easy listening and MOR to the Dublin area for two years from 1981 to 1983. It is an important station in the history of Irish pirate radio because it aimed at an older audience whereas most pirates chased younger listeners. British pirate radio enthusiast Leon Tipler described it as being more similar to RTÉ Radio 1 than Radio 2. The station began test transmissions in mid-April 1981 on 738 kHz (406metres) with a professionally-built 1kW transmitter, giving it good coverage across Dublin and beyond.

This is a recording of the final test from 1823-1910 on 28^th April 1981, the day before Radio Leinster was due to launch. An address of 22 Herbert Street, Dublin 2 is given but the station was located in Sandyford above the city. The programme schedule is announced, including presenters Eugene Elliot, Gordon Sommerville, Danny Hughes and Stevie Gordon. Some of the station’s characteristic interval signals are also heard.

The signal suffers from a heterodyne whistle as it was recorded in Scotland by Ken Baird. This would not be noticeable in Dublin where Radio Leinster had a strong signal, but further afield it was. This happened because the Leinster transmitter was off channel for the first week or so, on 735 kHz rather than the official 738 frequency. As the transmitter came from the USA, it may well be that the original American crystal for 735 kHz was in the unit. Thanks to Ian Biggar for background information and for sharing this recording with us.

25th December 20206th August 2021

The Pirate.ie Podcast #4

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In this special episode #4 of the Pirate.ie podcast, we’re delighted to bring you an interview with one of the most familiar voices on Dublin pirate radio in the 1980s, David Baker. David worked in a long list of stations ranging from Radio City, Big D and ARD to KISS FM, Radio Leinster, Heartbeat and KLAS 98. He was also heavily involved in the temporary stations set up by the Community Broadcasting Co-operative and the original Christmas station, Radio Snowflake.

In this interview with John Walsh and Brian Greene, David looks back on his pirate days in Ireland and recalls the many stations where he worked from the late 1970s until 1988. Based in the UK for many years, he also gives his views on the radio scene today and talks about his latest project Chelmer Radio.

Many thanks to David for sharing his memories with us in this special podcast.

Pirate.ie would like to thank all of our followers and contributors for their support in 2020. We will you all a very happy Christmas and hope for a better 2021 for everyone.