Royal County Radio Archives - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

24th June 202231st May 2024

Northeast series: First test broadcasts on Royal County Radio

Royal County Radio broadcast from 1982 to 1984 from Navan in Co. Meath and was managed by the late Don Allen, a stalwart of the offshore and Irish pirate scene. The station launched on 8^th October from the Trimgate Arcade in the centre of Navan, announcing 245 metres although the cassette label records the actual wavelength as 254 metres (1179 kHz although it is unlikely that the station was so close to Radio Dublin on 1188). Royal County Radio moved around the medium wave band before settling on 355 metres (846 kHz).

This recording is of the first test broadcasts of Royal County Radio and is undated but seems to be from more than one day, so we estimate 8^th and possibly 9^th October 1982. The voice of station manager Don Allen is heard on promos and a single advert and other DJs include Lynsey Shelbourne (Dolan), John Stevens and Fab Ollie. Audio levels are uneven and a heterodyne is heard at night, suggesting that the transmitter was slightly off channel. To the strains of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Don Allen closes down the station at midnight. RCR was in direct competition with Radio Carousel Navan and left the airwaves by the middle of 1984.

This recording was made by Kieran Murray and is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.

19th May 202231st May 2024

Northeast series: Royal County Radio during 1983 raids

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This recording of Co. Meath station Royal County Radio was made during the infamous raids by the Department of Posts and Telegraph on the super-pirates in May 1983. It was recorded on the morning of Thursday 19th May, a few hours after Sunshine Radio in Portmarnock was raided, and a day after Radio Nova was shut down.

Royal County Radio broadcast from Navan from October 1982 until the middle of 1984. In this recording, Al O’Rourke refers to a quiz coming up the following Monday but adds ‘fingers crossed’, a reflection of the nervousness among pirates at the time. Many stations closed down temporarily as a precaution in the days after the raids.

This extract begins at 1117 and is partially airchecked. It was recorded from 846 kHz, announcing 355 metres. Audio quality is fair to poor as the signal is groundwave reception recorded outside the Navan area. This recording is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Radio Skywave International was a shortwave station broadcasting from northeast Dublin in the 1980s.

3rd February 202131st May 2024

Northeast series: Royal County Radio from Navan

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Royal County Radio (RCR) broadcast from 1982 to 1984 from Navan in Co. Meath and was a rival to Radio Carousel, which was based in the town’s shopping centre. It was set up by Canadian ex-offshore DJ Don Allen (RIP) who was a familiar voice on the Irish pirates of the 1980s and had formerly worked with Carousel. RCR was launched on 8^th October 1982 and broadcast from a shopping arcade in Navan town centre. The station used the former Southside Radio transmitter from Dublin and moved around the AM band before settling on 846 kHz. Navan was probably too small to support two pirates and RCR closed around the middle of 1984.

This recording is of Oliver Callan on his lunchtime show from 1145-1235 on 28^th October 1982, only a few week’s after the station was launched. 305 metres is announced which is roughly equivalent to 981 kHz although the actual frequency may have been the slightly off-channel 1000 kHz where RCR was located for a time. The voice of Don Allen is heard on ads and promos and Peter reads news headlines at midday. We thank Ian Biggar for this donation.

10th May 20206th January 2024

Automated shows on Charisma Radio (Dublin)

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Charisma Radio was a low-power station broadcasting from various locations in Dublin in 1985 and 1986. Our recording from 98.1 FM is from the 9th of April 1986 and includes announcements that the station broadcasts to the neighbouring areas of Ranelagh, Rathmines and Rathgar on the southside of the city. The Anoraks Ireland report of the 19th of April 1986 lists Charisma FM as an irregular station on 97.9 FM from Blackrock/Phibsboro. It operated from a top flat at 11 North Circular Road for a period but had in fact moved to Ranelagh by that time. Charisma on 98.1 pops up in the Anoraks UK Weekly Report from June 1986 but by October, Ranelagh Community Radio is being reported on the same frequency. This was Charisma under another name because RCR is listed by Anoraks Ireland in 1987 and again in 1988 at the same address: 19 Dunville Avenue, Ranelagh, Dublin 6. There’s a scratchy RCR jingle below based on the original Royal County Radio package. Under either guise the station seems to have operated in the evenings only.

This recording of Charisma is an automated broadcast complete with periods of dead air. It begins with music and idents and after that is an American Baptist religious programme. Listeners are invited to write to the programme in Arkansas but that is followed by an announcement of Charisma’s Dublin address offering to forward letters to the US. Dublin had its own dedicated Christian pirate stations throughout the 1980s but American religious programmes popped up on smaller stations such as Charisma presumably for economic as much as for religious reasons.

One of the presenters on Charisma from North Circular Road was Colm O’Gorman, now Executive Director of Amnesty International Ireland, who remembers feeding the electricity meter to keep the station on air. Colm told us: ‘It played sermons on reel-to-reel as a revenue stream but all the DJs were gay men and played lots of high energy and house music. I always played Bronski Beat “It ain’t Necessarily So” after I had to put out one of the sermons!’

Reception is weak on the recording with plenty of interference but this is as the low-powered signal would have been heard on the northside of the city, well outside the target area. The recording is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Skywave Radio International broadcast a shortwave station in the 1980s from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin.

29th April 202015th June 2024

Northeast series: Lunchtime on Royal County Radio

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Royal County Radio was set up in Navan, Co. Meath on the 8^th of October 1982 and was a rival station to the popular Radio Carousel which broadcast from the town’s shopping centre. RCR was set up by ex-Carousel staff including the legendary Don Allen (RIP) who had worked on Radio Caroline North and Radio North Sea International. The station used the old Southside Radio transmitter from Dublin and moved around the medium wave band, starting on 254 metres (announcing 244 metres as in the flyer) then moving to 301 metres (999 kHz although they were slightly off-channel on 1000 kHz), before settling on 355 metres (846 kHz). An FM transmitter on 96.8 was added later. A report on an Irish tour by Anoraks UK in May 1984 describes RCR as going downhill as many presenters had left to join the new Cavan Community Radio, and the Navan station seems to have closed that summer.

This short recording is from 846 kHz and starts just before the midday news with Lynsey Shelbourne (Dolan). Don Allen’s voice can be heard on promos and presenting. We estimate the date as sometime in the spring of 1983, as Don left RCR to go to ERI in Cork in April. One of the best known voices on rural Irish pirate radio in the 1980s where he presented many country music shows, Don died suddenly in 1995. Thanks to Ian Biggar for his detective work which allowed us to piece together this information. This recording is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Skywave Radio International broadcast a shortwave station in the 1980s from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin.