Tralee has a long radio
history in one guise or another. The first mention of a ‘Radio Tralee’ was in
June 1939 when a loudspeaker system was installed in the town for the Tralee Summer
Show and Carnival. The ‘station’ studios were installed on Castle Street to entertain
those who attended the festival which included a major horse race meeting. According
to the 'Kerryman' newspaper on June 17th when reporting the official opening of
the Tralee Industrial Fair,
‘Mr.
Thomas Lynch, Chairman of the Tralee Urban Council, opened the Tralee Industrial
Show and Exhibitions on Wednesday night. Speaking from the studio of "Radio Tralee,"
he appealed to the people to support the manufacturers who had come to Tralee to
show what can be done by Irishmen in their own country.’
The moniker Radio Tralee
then reappeared in the sixties and the early seventies, initially during the
Rose of Tralee festival when studios were first located in 'Arthurs' music and
radio shop on the Square. By 1973, Radio Tralee was on every weekend from the Rose
weekend in July until after Christmas providing entertainment and an advertising
outlet for the traders in the town. The manager of the shop Declan Moriarty was
one of the main presenters on Radio Tralee at the time. In 1974 the station
would be moved to Barrack Lane behind the Munster Warehouse and the star
presenter was now Sean Hurley.
He would be replaced by a
man who would have a lasting impression on the listening public in Tralee, the
late Michael Donovan. Donovan would take the name from the towns speaker system
and put in on the airwaves properly as Radio Tralee in 1978 when it burst onto the medium wave. Sometimes known as
Community Radio Tralee and Downtown Radio Tralee, it closed briefly in December
1979 citing financial problems. In its various guises Donovan would keep a
Radio Tralee on the air until December 1988 when new legislation forced the
closure of over 100 pirate radio stations across Ireland that ultimately made
way for legal independent commercial radio and Radio Kerry. But having been
overlooked for a franchise, Radio Tralee came back on the air in late 1989 but
was eventually closed by the authorities in July 1990 putting an end to Radio
Tralee, or did it?
If you want to support my work in preserving and presenting the history of Irish radio and archive as much broadcasting history as I can, then for the price of a cup of coffee (takeaway these days) you can financially support the work at - https://ko-fi.com/irishbroadcastinghistory
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