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Your Favourite Irish Pirate Stations (past or present)

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Dec A Wash
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Your Favourite Irish Pirate Stations (past or present)

#1

Post by Dec A Wash »

The title is self-explanatory. I will leave that with you and see how many reply.

I may or may not add my own favourites at a later date!
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Buzzin^Hornets
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Re: Your Favourite Irish Pirate Stations (past or present)

#2

Post by Buzzin^Hornets »

I loved Phantom when it was a pirate station. Then they got their licence and had to make compromises I suppose. It wasn't the same and went downhill pretty quickly.
honeyjo
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Re: Your Favourite Irish Pirate Stations (past or present)

#3

Post by honeyjo »

I still miss pirate Phantom FM
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Buzzin^Hornets
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Re: Your Favourite Irish Pirate Stations (past or present)

#4

Post by Buzzin^Hornets »

Yes, honestly there's been nothing like it since. I've not made the effort since Phantom to actually listen to a station.

If I'm in the car I'll have Nova on as a default which is pretty grim as it's woeful, but the best of a bad bunch.
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Re: Your Favourite Irish Pirate Stations (past or present)

#5

Post by honeyjo »

I still miss pirate Phantom FM
Dec A Wash
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Re: Your Favourite Irish Pirate Stations (past or present)

#6

Post by Dec A Wash »

I will throw in my Top 10 faves. It will be interesting to see if this jogs any memories and also what age groups are reading this thread!

Note: some of the placings could change on another day, but I am happy with Number 1.

1. Capitol/Nitesky Radio : 1983-1988
2. Coast FM: 1991-1996
3. Radio Nova: 1981-1986
4. Sunshine Radio/Sunshine 101: 1980-1988
5. Phantom FM: 1997-2003
6. Energy Power AM - 2004 (I think - did not know it then!) - Present
7. Heartbeat FM (1980's version): 1987 (?) - 1988
8. Southside FM: 1987-1988
9. Sunset FM: 1991-1994
10. NSR: 1991 - 1993

The last four could change so honorable mentions to ARD/Radio 257 (1977-1980), Spectrum FM (1996-1997), DLR/Hits 106 (1991-1994?) and Alcatraz (1994-1995) amongst others!
BLF188
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Re: Your Favourite Irish Pirate Stations (past or present)

#7

Post by BLF188 »

1 Sunshine 101
2 Kiss 106
3 Kiss 103 (90s - NSR successor and current Nova precursor)
4 Q102 (pre Cunningham)
5 Energy 103
6 Nova (original one)
7 Riverside 101
8 Radio Vera
9 KITS
10 ERI
Last edited by BLF188 on Tue Jul 27, 2021 8:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Your Favourite Irish Pirate Stations (past or present)

#8

Post by Buzzin^Hornets »

Ah yes! Sunshine 101. Great station. Remember recording songs off it. :)
Dec A Wash
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Re: Your Favourite Irish Pirate Stations (past or present)

#9

Post by Dec A Wash »

BLF188 wrote: Tue Jul 27, 2021 7:20 pm 1 Sunshine 101
2 Kiss 106
3 Kiss 103 (90s - NSR successor and current Nova precursor)
4 Q102 (pre Cunningham)
5 Energy 103
6 Nova (original one)
7 Riverside 101
8 Radio Vera
9 KITS
10 ERI
Kiss103 - It was a successor to NSR in that both were operated by Kevin Branigan and one did succeed the other immediately, but, musically, they were a bit different with NSR being a mix of old and new music and Kiss103 being chart-oriented. The link with licensed Radio Nova is essentially its boss Kevin Branigan, but it's a very big stretch to say that it was a precursor to Nova. For starters, after Kiss103, he was involved with dance pirate Pulse and then licensed radio in the shape of East Coast Radio and FM104. Kevin then went the temporary license route with Choice FM and 949 The Rock (and much later The Rock). 949 The Rock, both musically and chronologically, as well as the ownership, was the "current Nova precursor".

Tell me more about Radio Vera.
BLF188
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Re: Your Favourite Irish Pirate Stations (past or present)

#10

Post by BLF188 »

I recall radio Vera being present in Limerick in 1988 - It was just below ERI on FM to my memory and had this big stereo signal. Not being from the area it stood out during several visits to the city that year.
Think there was some relationship to radio Munster
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Re: Your Favourite Irish Pirate Stations (past or present)

#11

Post by Hodors Appletart »

Always loved Pulse

I think it was them, or another station, that relayed BBCR1 from the morning time until about 4pm when they'd come on air themselves.

I loved having access to the polished and professional world of BBC - this is back when Zoe Ball then Sara Cox presented Breakfast (Then Moyles), Moyles later in the day, Marc and Lard.

Also loved Phantom
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Re: Your Favourite Irish Pirate Stations (past or present)

#12

Post by Hodors Appletart »

was DLR a pirate in the early-mid 90s? I had tapes recorded off that when they had a rap & hip-hop show on a Friday afternoon, living northside Dublin, it wasn't always perfect reception, but was great to have at that time in Dublin.
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Dec A Wash
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Re: Your Favourite Irish Pirate Stations (past or present)

#13

Post by Dec A Wash »

Hodors Appletart wrote: Thu Jul 29, 2021 12:15 pm Always loved Pulse

I think it was them, or another station, that relayed BBCR1 from the morning time until about 4pm when they'd come on air themselves.

I loved having access to the polished and professional world of BBC - this is back when Zoe Ball then Sara Cox presented Breakfast (Then Moyles), Moyles later in the day, Marc and Lard.

Also loved Phantom
Freedom FM relayed BBC Radio 1 certainly. I don't know if Pulse did. Sunset FM used to relay Enjoi Radio before it came back on at 12pm.

In 1988, before it shut for good, Southside FM relayed satellite station Radio Nova International.

At one stage in the early 1980s, Radio Dublin used to relay the 1:30pm news headlines from RTE Radio 1 (or maybe had a radio nearby!), and the RD presenter would thank the unsuspecting newsreader!

Any other memories of your favourite pirates relaying legal stations?
Last edited by Dec A Wash on Thu Jul 29, 2021 1:05 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Dec A Wash
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Re: Your Favourite Irish Pirate Stations (past or present)

#14

Post by Dec A Wash »

Hodors Appletart wrote: Thu Jul 29, 2021 12:39 pm was DLR a pirate in the early-mid 90s? I had tapes recorded off that when they had a rap & hip-hop show on a Friday afternoon, living northside Dublin, it wasn't always perfect reception, but was great to have at that time in Dublin.
That's right. DLR stood for Dun Laoghaire Local Radio. Quite a lot of future legal radio presenters went through there. A lot of them seem to have gone through Wicklow's East Coast Radio. DLR had quite a mix of programming from pop to hip hop to dance to even metal at one stage! There was even a traditional Irish music show on Sunday mornings! At some point, around 1994, it changed its name to Hits 106. In the DLR days, it was on 106.0 FM, but then moved to 106.1 FM.
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Re: Your Favourite Irish Pirate Stations (past or present)

#15

Post by Hodors Appletart »

Ah yeah, it was Freedom, somewhere around 92fm on the dial I think

I remember the last day of Pulse "It's not over, not over, not over yet" was the last song they played.
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Scotty
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Re: Your Favourite Irish Pirate Stations (past or present)

#16

Post by Scotty »

There used to be a great station on LW (Long Wave) which meant it wasn't stereo, but the music was great. I can't remember what it was called. It was very popular for years.
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Re: Your Favourite Irish Pirate Stations (past or present)

#17

Post by honeyjo »

Phantom used to relay Virgin Radio UK.

Damn it ! I've got The National Prayer Breakfast's Feeding Frenzy on loop on my internal jukebox
Dec A Wash
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Re: Your Favourite Irish Pirate Stations (past or present)

#18

Post by Dec A Wash »

Scotty wrote: Thu Jul 29, 2021 3:44 pm There used to be a great station on LW (Long Wave) which meant it wasn't stereo, but the music was great. I can't remember what it was called. It was very popular for years.
You are thinking of Atlantic 252. That was not a pirate - it was a joint venture between RTE and the owners of Radio Luxembourg! It broadcast from Co. Meath and could be picked up in most of Ireland if you had Long Wave on your radio, but it's key target audience was the UK. It was launched September 1st 1989. At the time. many did have Long Wave and there was far less competition, especially in the UK. It struggled into the early 2000s by which time a lot of things had changed, especially the radio competition and more infrequent use of long wave - newer car radios didn't even have long wave.

Anyway, does not count for this thread!
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Scotty
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Re: Your Favourite Irish Pirate Stations (past or present)

#19

Post by Scotty »

Dec A Wash wrote: Thu Jul 29, 2021 9:34 pm You are thinking of Atlantic 252.
Yes, that's the one. I didn't know it was an Irish station.
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Re: Your Favourite Irish Pirate Stations (past or present)

#20

Post by Hodors Appletart »

It was marketed as, and to all intents and purposes appeared to be, a UK station
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Re: Your Favourite Irish Pirate Stations (past or present)

#21

Post by Persona Non Grata »

Sunset, Coast 103, Magic 105 (Monaghan), Rainbow (SW), Kiss FM (Mayo), Independent Radio Mayo, Caroline 558 (Generally considered a British station but its founder and half its staff were Irish), Nova, Radio West (Mullingar), WLR (SW pirate Scottish but TX in Ireland), Radio Fax (English but TX here as well)
Dec A Wash
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Re: Your Favourite Irish Pirate Stations (past or present)

#22

Post by Dec A Wash »

Persona Non Grata wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 10:58 pm Sunset, Coast 103, Magic 105 (Monaghan), Rainbow (SW), Kiss FM (Mayo), Independent Radio Mayo, Caroline 558 (Generally considered a British station but its founder and half its staff were Irish), Nova, Radio West (Mullingar), WLR (SW pirate Scottish but TX in Ireland), Radio Fax (English but TX here as well)
Presumably, you are referring to the offshore pirate Radio Caroline founded by Irishman Ronan O'Rahilly. That was a UK operation. It did have a number of Irish presenters during its long-running pirate years (1964-1990), but they were nowhere near half of the staff!! Staff came from various countries but the largest proportion were from the UK.
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Re: Your Favourite Irish Pirate Stations (past or present)

#23

Post by Persona Non Grata »

Dec A Wash wrote: Fri Aug 06, 2021 10:20 ambut they were nowhere near half of the staff!!
Depends on **when** exactly one is talking about.

During the 558 era (which I eluded to specifically) the Irish contingent ranged from zero to a large majority. (For legal reasons station management always tried to avoid having everyone on the ship at any one time being of the same nationality)

And they're generally regarded as a British operation although at times could be regarded as Dutch (1972-74) or even Panamanian (as per the ships registration -some of the time)
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Re: Your Favourite Irish Pirate Stations (past or present)

#24

Post by BLF188 »

Persona Non Grata wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 10:58 pm Sunset, Coast 103, Magic 105 (Monaghan), Rainbow (SW), Kiss FM (Mayo), Independent Radio Mayo, Caroline 558 (Generally considered a British station but its founder and half its staff were Irish), Nova, Radio West (Mullingar), WLR (SW pirate Scottish but TX in Ireland), Radio Fax (English but TX here as well)
Radio Fax - the station that fell off the top end of the MW band back in 1988, the original tech podcast
But how can this and Sunset be on the same list of favourites?
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Re: Your Favourite Irish Pirate Stations (past or present)

#25

Post by Persona Non Grata »

BLF188 wrote: Fri Aug 06, 2021 3:36 pmBut how can this and Sunset be on the same list of favourites?
It *is* possible to be interested in more than one kind of programming !

One of more entertaining aspect of Radio Fax was Trevor Brooks hilarious mispronunciations of Irish names/organisations/placenames !
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