Nova sticker from the 819 days (courtesy Ian Biggar).
This recording of Radio Nova was made on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 1982, by which time the station was well established as one of the leading pirates in Dublin and Ireland. The tape kicks off with Scott Williams who finishes his show with a Christmas tune from a group of singers in studio. ‘Independent radio news from Ireland’ at midnight is read by Siobhán Purcell. ‘Clutterfree Nova’ – continuous music – follows for the next 40 minutes or so before Roland Burke (RIP) signs on until 6am on Christmas morning. Among the requests from listeners is one from Liverpool, reflecting the wide range of Nova’s coverage.
The tape was recorded from 88.2 FM. Since August, Nova was also broadcasting on 819 kHz AM but the cassette label refers to the earlier frequency of 846 kHz.
Original cassette label from Anoraks Ireland Collection.
Part 1 above runs from 2348 and Part 2 below from 0039.
Part 2 from 0039.
The recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.
Undated photo of Gareth O’Callaghan in the Nova studio (courtesy Noel Hiney).
This recording is of popular DJ Tony Gareth (Gareth O’Callaghan) on Radio Nova in December 1982. There is a large number of adverts in the pre-Christmas period, emphasising the growing commercial success of Nova. Gareth promotes a competition to give away a music system and uses the tag line ‘clutterfree’, the format of continuous music and limited chat for which Nova became renowned. There’s also the 2.15 ‘hit and pick’ request spot for a local business. News is read by Sybil Fennell and the weather forecast covers Northern Ireland and the northwest of England, reflecting Nova’s coverage area. Gareth O’Callaghan went on to work in many other pirate and licensed stations and is still broadcasting today.
This tape was recorded from 88.2 FM from 1400-1450 (news is cut) on 1st December 1982. It is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson. Nova also broadcast on 819 kHz at this time.
Our montage of the final minute of Nova with photos taken by Joe King.
Here’s the iconic announcement of the official closedown of Radio Nova at 6pm on Thursday, 19th May 1983, following the raid by the Department of Posts and Telegraphs on the station the previous morning. From the afternoon of the 19th as news of the imminent closure spread, a large crowd assembled outside the studios at 19 Herbert Street, Dublin 2 and Nova’s many listeners near and far heard the electric farewell broadcast. Watch a video of the dramatic closedown announcement voiced by Tony Allan, with photographs of the final day courtesy of Joe King. Listen below to the final 40 minutes of broadcasting from 1720-1800.
The final 40 minutes of Radio Nova on May 19th 1983.
This recording is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Radio Skywave International was a shortwave station based in Baldoyle in northeast Dublin in the 1980s.
Boyneside Radio North AM mast just on the border (courtesy of Eddie Caffrey).
This three-minute clip includes highlights related to the transnational nature of Irish pirate radio in the late 1970s and 1980s. By accident or design, stations were heard beyond the borders of the Irish state on FM and especially on AM and there were also part-time shortwave operators aimed at international DXers.
Constitution Hill in Aberystwyth where Leon Tipler recorded Irish radio (photo by John Walsh).
The first segment is of Arklow Community Radio as heard by the late British radio enthusiast Leon Tipler on FM in Aberystwyth on the Welsh coast on 13th August 1983. This is followed by a night-time recording of Radio Nova playing a request for Leon at his home in Kidderminster in the English midlands on 17th September 1982.
Radio Nova sticker from the 50 kW days (courtesy of Ian Biggar).
The third segment is the iconic top-of-the-hour ident of Radio Nova recorded on 17th July 1984. This is voiced by station boss Chris Cary who stresses that Nova broadcasts from and not to Dublin on 738 kHz. The AM transmitter was using 50 kW at the time in order to reach the British market.
KISS FM sticker (courtesy of Ian Biggar).
The fourth segment is of KISS FM, a high-powered FM and AM station based in Monaghan on the border and aiming its signal at the lucrative Belfast market. This was recorded in Scotland on 13th June 1988. The firth extract is an advert on the Louth station Boyneside Radio promoting a céilí in an Irish centre in Lankashire. Although recorded in Ireland, it is evidence that Boyneside had listeners across the Irish Sea. The final extract is from August 1985 and features one of the many Irish shortwave stations that aimed at international audiences. Radio Rainbow International broadcast on 6240 kHz but this is a studio recording.
Radio Rainbow letter from 1986 (courtesy Ian Biggar).
These recordings are from our various collections and are discussed in more detail in our podcast focusing on the transnational nature of Irish pirate radio.
Tom Hardy on the day of the Radio Nova raid, 18th May 1983 (courtesy Joe King).
This is another recording of Radio Nova as heard in Cumbria on 828 kHz AM from 0915-0945 on 30th June 1983. Tom Hardy is on air and features include the Nova Jobspot advertising current employment vacancies around town. The late Bob Gallico reads news headlines at half past the hour. There are plenty of agency ads and promos for the Radio Nova Puma 10K race and for a Nova news hotline which has just been launched. Reception is fair but Nova was operating on reduced power at this time following the raid the previous month.
This recording is from the Leon Tipler Tapes Collection, donated to us by Steve England.
