RTÉ Radio 1 Archives - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

9th October 20245th October 2024

Dublin bandscan from summer 1979

English radio enthusiast Leon Tipler was fond of recording bandscans during his visits to Dublin in the late 1970s and early 1980s, giving us a unique insight into the sound of the AM and FM bands at the time. In this recording from July 1979, he tunes along both bands late at night and again in the morning, providing snippets of the pirates and RTÉ. Among the content captured here is Paul Vincent with a late-night phone-in on ARD (Alternative Radio Dublin), Vincent Stewart on the Big D and a science fiction show also on the Big D. There are extracts from Mike Murphy’s breakfast programme recorded from RTÉ Radio 1 on FM and part of the Big D breakfast show, again from FM. As the knob is turned along the AM band, some British stations are also heard, as well as other unidentified Irish pirates.

This undated recording is from the Leon Tipler Collection, donated to us by Steve England.

17th May 20222nd May 2024

RTÉ coverage of 1983 pirate raids

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There was extensive coverage on RTÉ of the raids on Radio Nova and Sunshine Radio on 18^th and 19^th May 1983. This was unsurprising given that RTÉ’s income and standing was threatened by the popularity of the pirates. British radio enthusiast Leon Tipler recorded RTÉ coverage of the raids from Radio 1, listening on its medium wave transmitter on 567 kHz which got reasonably well into the English midlands.

This recording consists of several RTÉ news bulletins during that fateful week in 1983: the 6.30pm news and 10.00pm headlines on Wednesday 18^th May; the newspaper review at 8.10am on 19^th May followed by news from 1.00pm, 1.30pm and 6.30pm that day; the newspaper review at 9.05am on Saturday 21^st May and the 1.00pm news programme on Sunday 22^nd May. The final extract includes an interview with the Minister of State for Posts and Telegraphs, Ted Nealon, promising new radio legislation by the autumn of 1983. Optimistically, he predicted that local radio in the 1980s would be similar to rural electrification 40 years earlier. In fact, it would be another 5 and a half years before the pirates would be closed down and licensed radio introduced.

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

16th May 20222nd May 2024

Coverage of 1983 raids on pirate stations

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Raids by the Department of Posts and Telegraphs on the super-pirates Radio Nova and Sunshine Radio on 18^th and 19^th May 1983 rocked the Irish radio scene. Panic spread throughout the country’s pirate stations in anticipation of further raids, and many stations took the precaution of closing down temporarily.

One of the larger stations, Radio Carousel in Dundalk, celebrated its 5^th birthday around the same time, on 20^th May 1983. Kieran Murray, who ran the Radio Carousel operation in Navan, Co. Meath, made recordings from RTÉ and other stations in the week of the raids. The first part of the recording above is from Wednesday 18^th May and begins with part of the 1.15 lunchtime news from Boyneside Radio in Drogheda, followed by the 1.30 RTÉ Radio 1 report on the raids. Kieran then records a conversation with Hugh O’Brien of Radio Nova, who had been trying to reach Carousel boss Hugh Hardy all morning. The recording continues with extracts from Thursday 19^th May: the report of the raid on Sunshine Radio on RTÉ and an interview by Radio Carousel’s Christine Reilly (Tina Anderson) with Bill McLoughlin of Sunshine Radio.

Part 2 below includes an interview with Hugh Hardy on Paul Clarke’s programme on BBC Radio Ulster on 19^th May, followed by the 6pm news on Radio Carousel Navan. The recording ends with part of the RTÉ Radio 1 news at 6.30 on 22^nd May.

Interview with Hugh Hardy, Radio Carousel Navan, RTÉ coverage.

These recordings are from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.

21st August 202022nd July 2024

Bandscan: Irish radio as heard in Wales in 1983

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‘Hello Again’, Part 3 of Leon Tipler’s acclaimed documentary series The Irish Pirates was based on a return visit to Dublin in September 1983. The episode features an AM and FM bandscan from Aberystwyth on the west Wales coast, recorded by Tipler in August 1983. Having climbed Constitution Hill to the north of the town, Tipler gave himself the best chance of picking up radio signals from Ireland a mere 150km away.

This is the original, unedited bandscan as recorded by Tipler on both AM and FM from his perch overlooking the Irish Sea on a sunny Saturday afternoon, 13^th August 1983. The pirates heard include Arklow Community Radio, Kilkenny Community Radio, Sunshine Radio and Radio Dublin. RTÉ Radio 1, Radio 2 and Raidió na Gaeltachta are all received loud and clear on FM. There are snippets of unidentified UK stations as well as occasional police communications, which up to the mid-1980s used the middle of the FM band.

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