Don Allen on the Radio West Anoraks Show

Don Allen on the Radio West Anoraks Show
Landlink was heard after the Anoraks Show on Radio West every Sunday (courtesy Ian Biggar).

One of the presenters of the Radio West Anoraks Show was the late Don Allen, himself a veteran of the offshore pirate scene and an accomplished broadcaster on the Irish pirates of the 1980s. Here he is presenting the Anoraks Show in 1987 with station boss Shaun Coyne, who talks about the station’s expansion into Galway on both AM and FM. There are adverts for Anoraks Ireland and Anoraks UK and discussion of a pirate radio magazine that was being prepared at the time, although it seems it never materialised.

This recording was made from 1045-1145 on Sunday 19th July 1987 from an unspecified FM frequency. It was donated to us by Ian Biggar.

Radio West Anoraks Show from 1986

Radio West Anoraks Show from 1986
Radio West compliments slip from c. 1986 (courtesy DX Archive).

Radio West broadcast from Mullingar from 1982 until the end of 1988 and achieved wide coverage after it began using the former Radio Nova 10kW transmitter on 765 kHz and later 702 kHz. It was popular with radio watchers because of the lively and often unpredictable Sunday morning Anoraks Show presented by station owner Shaun Coyne and others. A diet of radio gossip, colourful rumours and regular updates from anoraks throughout the country made the show essential listening each week.

This edition of the Anoraks Show was recorded in Dublin from 765 kHz from 1100-1230 on 8th June 1986 and features Philip Hilton with Shaun Coyne. There’s a promise of link-ups with ABC in Waterford and WKLR in Cork but these don’t materialise and the presenters joke that these stations are blacklisted! The Anoraks Show is followed at midday by the first half hour of the traditional music programme Céilí Lár Tíre.

This recording is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Skywave Radio International broadcast a shortwave station in the 1980s from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin.

Documentary: Heartland Pirates

Documentary: Heartland Pirates
Heartland Pirates publicity image (courtesy of Irena Djak Cvetkovic, Athlone Community Radio).

We are delighted to host a documentary about the 1980s pirates in and around Athlone, Co. Westmeath with the kind permission of Athlone Community Radio.

‘Heartland Pirates’ was originally broadcast on 2nd November 2020 from 1700-1755 and features stations such as Signal 102, Midland Radio and Radio Carol Ann. Among those taking part are many of those involved in the original Athlone pirates including Pete Casey, TR Dallas, Noel Lackey, Roy Jennings, Peter Mooney, Geraldine O’Sullivan, Barry Flynn, Val Beaumont and Gerry O’Reilly. Our own interview with Gerry is available here.

‘Heartland Pirates’ was edited and produced by Athlone Community Radio manager Irena Djak Cvetkovic. The documentary was supported by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland with the television licence fee. For further information, click here.

Full recording: Radio West (Mullingar)

Full recording: Radio West (Mullingar)
Radio West compliments slip, courtesy of DX Archive.

Radio West was one of the large regional stations of the pirate era and even renamed itself ‘West National Radio 3’ in 1988 as it claimed to be broadcasting nationwide. Its 10kW transmitter on 765 kHz (later 702) gave it good coverage over a wide area and an infill AM on 711 kW was added for Galway in 1988. Radio West also had a chain of low-powered FM relays from Dublin to Galway but it was stretching the imagination to claim national coverage.

This recording is of the end of the Mike Young breakfast show from 0918-1003 on 2nd February 1984, recorded from 765 kHz in Dublin. There is some electrical interference with audio dropout from time to time and there seems to be some drift off channel by the end of the recording. Ads are heard from across the midland counties, some of which feature the voice of station owner Shaun Coyne. Idents are voiced by Tony Allan and interestingly the 10.00 news is a relay of Bob Gallico on Radio Nova in Dublin. We don’t know if there was ever a formal agreement with Nova to rebroadcast its news or if this is an example of piracy by one pirate from another – smaller stations were known to relay news from bigger stations and Radio Dublin infamously rebroadcast bulletins from RTÉ for a time.

This recording is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Skywave Radio International broadcast a shortwave station in the 1980s from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin.

Radio West during 1983 raids

Radio West during 1983 raids
Radio West compliments slip courtesy of DX Archive.

Radio West was a large station broadcasting to the midlands from 1982, first on 1071 kHz and then on 765 kHz as in the compliments slip. Acquiring the old Radio Nova 10kW transmitter, it could be heard far and wide especially when it moved to the clearer channel of 702 kHz. By 1988 Radio West was styling itself as ‘West National Radio 3’ and claiming to be nationwide, based on the 10kW AM rig and a chain of FM transmitters stretching from Dublin to Galway.

This recording is from the 18th of May 1983 from 1908-1925 and features Davina Carr on air with a country programme, a style of music popularised by rural stations such as Radio West. There is no mention of the raid on Radio Nova that morning, although Davina explains that the station had been off the air earlier due to technical issues. Radio West was among those stations to close down temporarily following the other raid on Sunshine Radio on the 19th of May. You can hear airchecks and jingles from Radio West here.