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Saturday 18 April 2020

The Pirate Radio of Dungloe


The small village of Dungloe in Donegal is famous for the Mary from Dungloe annual festival. In 1981 as part of RTE's mobile radio station community service, the station arrived in May 1981 although the Festival for which the town is globally known for was held around the August bank holiday weekend. The RTE station broadcast on 202m medium wave and on FM. 


For the festival, having seen the success of RTE's service in the locality, the organising festival committee in 1981 with the help of a local pirate radio station put their own station on the air to entertain and inform the thousands who visited the area for the festival. That years crowned Mary was Noreen Galligan who represented The Gaeltacht.


The following year the Festival station was back on the air broadcasting on 257m from an OB unit located in a caravan based on the main street in the village.


In 1983 the pirate station was again on the this time located on 192m on the medium wave band and on the air for ten days, including the festival itself and a couple of days before the official start of the festival. The reason for the extended broadcasting hours was to increase advertising income. 


In 1985, the locals in Dungloe yet again had their own festival station but this time RTE's mobile service returned to the town. 








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