Wicklow Archives - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

9th March 202622nd February 2026

Final hour of BLB before 1983 closedown

This is part of the final hour of Bray Local Broadcasting (BLB) before it closed voluntarily following the raids on the larger Dublin pirates in 1983. At the microphone is a familiar voice on BLB, Mark Quinn, who is joined by other presenters including Shay Byrne (now with RTÉ), Sally Byrne and Terry Daniels. They reminisce about the station since it began on 22^nd August 1979. There are also calls of support from listeners and messages of goodwill from community groups, showing how respected BLB was in the north Wicklow town.

The recording was made from 96.7 FM between 2255-2341 on 19^th May 1983. BLB also broadcast on 657 kHz, announcing 456 metres. Along with most other pirates, it returned to the airwaves after a short time once the immediate shock of the raids had passed.

4th July 202521st July 2025

Sunday afternoon on Wicklow Community Radio

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Wicklow Community Radio began as a temporary festival station in the summer of 1982, but due to its success soon became a full-time operation. In 1985, it changed its name to Wicklow Local Community Broadcasting (WLCB) and in 1987 it was relaunched as Viking 105, with a more commercial focus.

This recording begins with the Top 30 countdown and the number 1 record, presented by Gerry Lang. This is followed by Willie Naughton’s Sunday Special show featuring album tracks. Voices on adverts include those of Scott Williams and David Harvey, both of whom would become big names on 1980s pirate radio and who continue to work in the media industry to this day. An announcement of a festival in east Wicklow includes a reference to the popular Radio Nova disco roadshow! The station signs off for the night with a bilingual announcement at 1900.

This airchecked recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection and was made from 1512 kHz AM, announcing 198 metres, on Sunday 4^th September 1983 between 1700-1900.

30th March 202520th February 2025

Sunday afternoon on Bray Local Broadcasting

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Bray Local Broadcasting (BLB), was one of the leading community radio stations in the country during the pirate era of the 1970s-1980s, and was a founding member of the National Association for Community Broadcasting that lobbied for the licensing of non-commerical local radio. It broadcast from Bray in north Co. Wicklow for the best part of a decade from 1979-1988.

This is a short airchecked recording from 1983 of the Sunday Disco Mix show with an unidentified DJ, interspersed with adverts for small businesses in Bray. It is followed by Louis O’Rourke with At Your Service, a programme for Civil Defence, Red Cross and the Order of Malta, an example of the type of community material championed by BLB. The tape was made by Kieran Murray between 1730-1800 on Sunday 1^st May 1983 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection. 96.3 FM is noted on the inlay card, but BLB broadcast on 96.7 at the time, as well as 657 kHz AM.

23rd March 202529th March 2025

Sunday afternoon on Wicklow Community Radio

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Wicklow Community Radio (WCR) began broadcasting from Wicklow Town in mid-1982, emerging from a network of temporary community stations set up by the Community Broadcasting Cooperative in Dublin in the early 1980s. It relaunched as Wicklow Local Community Broadcasting (WLCB) in summer 1985, which was more commercially-oriented despite the name. A final change in July 1987 rebranded the station as Viking 105, and it continued as such until the end of 1988.

This is an airchecked recording of WCR from 1983. It begins with the end of the WCR Top 30 Show with David Byrne and is followed by Victor Ryan with Sounds Easy. There are plenty of adverts for businesses around Wicklow and reference to the Maytime festival in Newtownmountkennedy. WCR broadcast on 1512 kHz AM at the time, and station liners feature that frequency. The DJ (and marketing material above) also refers to 198.4 metres, which was unusual as metres were often rounded up or down, sometimes quite generously.

The recording was made by Kieran Murray between 1630-1730 from 1512 kHz on Sunday 1^st May 1983 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.

14th June 20243rd June 2024

The sound of Dublin pirate radio in June 1986

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The Dublin pirate scene was alive and well in the summer of 1986. Radio Nova had closed suddenly in March, to be replaced by Energy 103. Other super-pirates Sunshine Radio and Q102 took advantage of the change to consolidate their positions in the crowded market. Smaller stations continued to chug along serving their own niche audiences or communities while pirates from nearby counties could be heard easily in the capital, particularly on AM.

This airchecked recording captures some of the variety to be heard in Dublin that summer and includes excerpts from KISS FM (Dublin 1), Capitol Radio, Radio Dublin, Q102, Sunshine 101, Energy 103, Bray Local Broadcasting (BLB), Community Radio Fingal (CRF) and Boyneside Radio. It was made on 19^th June 1986 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.