RADIO RINGSEND - THE GOOD OLD DAYS

 

Today the team at a relaunched RICC Radio keep the locals of Raytown informed but radio stations in the village are not new. The first station was in 1979 when Joe King opened Downtown Radio Dublin. The station was illegal, a pirate, operating outside the then law of the 1926 Wireless Telegraphy Act. DCR was located in a room above the CYMS and could be found by listeners on 312m MW. 

The stations aerial was strung across the road to a telephone pole. After a couple of months, the station moved to the back garden of Joe’s home off Grand Canal Street and was renamed Dublin Community Radio. They stayed on air until 1982. Joe King todays runs the Broadcast Technical Services company who provide transmission systems to many of today’s stations.

Joe King in the Studios of DCR, Courtesy of Joe King

Next was Radio Ringsend, the first of many visits of this festival station operated by the Community Broadcasting Co-Operative. CBC was set up by Dave Reddy, who worked at ARD Radio, in 1982 and operated short-term stations for a fortnight coinciding with local festivals in Sandymount, Ringsend, Glasnevin, Donnybrook and Mount Merrion. CBC was also involved with temporary stations in Ráth Chairn, Co. Meath and Wicklow Town.

Local Advertising poster (c) The Irish Pirate Radio Archive

Al O'Rourke on the air

L-R: Victor Ryan, Michael Nugent and Al O’Rourke at Radio Ringsend (courtesy Dave Reddy).

The late John Murray in the studio above Sally O'Brien's

In 1982, Radio Ringsend was located in the premises of what is now ABEC Glass. On Fitzwilliam Street. They then moved to Con O’Donoghue’s shop, now the local Spar and subsequently to Sally O’Brien’s pub which is now known as the Shipwright Guesthouse, both of these located on Thorncastle Street. The station’s final venue was the Irishtown Food store beside the Shelbourne Pharmacy on Irishtown Road.   

With the success for the festivals in Ringsend and Sandymount, the station came back on the air at Christmas broadcasting as Radio Snowflake. 

Snowflake closed in 1988 with the introduction of the new harsher Wireless Telegraphy Act, which made way for Independent commercial radio to replace the plethora of pirate stations that operated across the country. David Baker continued to run Radio Snowflake online before turning his attention to Breeze Radio which he operates in England, now his home.

An Advertising rate card for Radio Ringsend (c) Ian Biggar DX Archive

A different incarnation of a Christmas station was licensed by the Broadcasting Authority and Christmas FM now broadcasts across the country every Christmas raising millions for charity.

To hear some of Radio Ringsend’s output, tune in HERE.

This author currently has the original transmitter for the CBC stations, kindly donated by Dave Reddy to the Irish Pirate Radio Archive.

Sources:

pirate.ie    radiowaves.fm    DX Archive    Dave Reddy    David Baker    Irish Newspaper Archives    News Four

The Irish Pirate Radio Archive