Moate Community Radio, Local Pirate Radio in 1980s Ireland

As I research the use of community radio in Ireland in the 1980s for a new book, I discovered the stories of a number of the smaller pirate radio stations including Midleton Community Radio (their story in our next post) and this station Moate Community Radio in County Westmeath. 

The community in Moate approached RTE to bring their mobile radio station to the town but RTE were unable to accede to the request. As a result a FM transmitter was sourced and with studios located in the Carmelite College in the town, Moate Community Radio first came on the air after a couple of days testing on Saturday July 31st 1982 broadcasting on 104mhz FM. The station stayed on the air for just one week but it was well supported with advertising from the local business community. 

The station came back on the air in 1983 once again for a week, but by 1984 the station was not only broadcasting on FM, now 101mhz, but also on medium wave 210m. By now Aidan Higgins was acting as the station manager. 

The final outing for Moate Community Radio was in 1985 with the 210m transmitter once again on the air but the FM was now located on 103.5mhz. Their studios had moved from the College to a premises on the main street on the town.

Sources

Westmeath Independent

Westmeath Topic

The Irish Pirate Radio Archive

If you are affected by any issues raised here some of the helplines include

The Rape Crisis Centre 1-800-778-888

Pieta House 1-800-247-247

 

Raidio Carúilín - The Irishness of Radio Caroline including the Judge, the Port, the Owner and a Rebel

 

Sixty years ago, a Clondalkin born Dubliner, Ronan O’Rahilly became a legend and began a revolution of the airwaves. Ronan, who passed away in 2020 was the grandson of ‘The O’Rahilly’ who died during the 1916 Rising. On Easter Sunday March 29th 1964, broadcasting from a converted passenger ferry, the MV Fredericia, off the coast off Essex, Radio Caroline began regular transmissions. It would cause a tsunami of change in the broadcasting and music worlds. There was a large Irish dimension to the station because not only was its founder born in Dublin but the ferry was converted into the iconic radio station at the County Louth port of Greenore, owned by Ronan’s father Aodoghan.

 

Moreen House in Clondalkin where Ronan was born

In July 1964, when Caroline merged with another offshore pirate ship Radio Atlanta, the original MV Caroline was moved from its moorings off the east coast of England to a new location off Ramsey in the Isle of Man and was renamed as Radio Caroline North. It became an instant hit across Ireland broadcasting initially on 199m and later 259m medium wave. Noel, a brother of Eamonn Andrews, who famously presented What’s My Line and This is Your Life on TV, had been working as a sports reporter for Radio Eireann. He found himself broadcasting his first music show ‘The Andrews Live’ on Radio Caroline on Tuesday December 1st 1964 as Caroline was now averaging a listenership in the British Isles of 28 million every day. The first track he played was from fellow Irishmen ‘The Batc    helors’ who were now heading for stardom in Britain and managed by major Caroline investor Belfast born Phil Solomon. Noel proved to be a popular broadcaster with the housewives. He had previously been on Radio Eireann presenting the ‘Housewives Choice’ programme. When he returned to Radio Eireann from Radio Caroline, he was briefly relegated to presenting Children’s programmes.

 (Hear Noel Andrews on Caroline HERE courtesy of offshoreradio.co.uk)

When Caroline arrived off the Manx coast, their transmissions were heard across Ireland and with it an opportunity to grab some of the lucrative advertising pie. With this in mind, Jim Craig was appointed Caroline’s representative in Ireland and they opened offices in August 1964 at 27 Molesworth Street, dubbed Caroline House. Today that building is incorporated into Buswells Hotel, directly across the road from Leinster House. 

The holding company for Caroline was known as Planet Productions Limited with a subsidiary Planet Productions Eire Limited looking after the advertising for the stations. On August 1st 1964 in advance of the introduction of new UK laws, two directors of the Irish company, London based Richard Trapnell and Dublin born Herman Good resigned. According to the Pirate Radio Hall of Fame,

‘His friend Christopher Moore, a club DJ, provided the musical knowledge and having served in the Merchant Navy, some nautical experience too. Moore introduced O'Rahilly to a friend of his, Ian Ross. They met one lunchtime around Easter 1963. O'Rahilly told Ross of his plans. Ross was impressed by the project and thought that his father might be interested in investing. Mr Ross Senior worked in the city and was an expert in raising venture capital. That afternoon they squashed themselves into Ian Ross's MG sports car and set off to the family home in Haslemere, Surrey. By that evening the deal had been done. His father put in some of his own cash, as did his friend John Sheffield, chairman of the Norcros Group of companies. Together they and their firms put up over 80% of the launch capital - some £250,000 in all. Other investors included Sheffield's son-in-law Jocelyn Stevens, then proprietor of Queen magazine, and Dublin lawyer Herman Good. They all recognised the plan had potential.’

American born Chris Moore helped Ronan source the MV Frederica and when the ship had been converted into Radio Caroline, he was the first voice heard on Easter Saturday 1964, playing the very first record The Rolling Stones’s ‘Not Fade Away’.

The news of the resignations were reported in the Evening Herald on September 20th 1964,

The resignations of District Justice Herman Good, chairman and director, and Mr. R. L. Trapnell (London), director, Planet Productions Ltd., selling agents for Radio Caroline became effective as from August 1st it was announced at a meeting of the board of directors.

 

The interesting fact here is that Mr. Good, a solicitor, had been appointed as a temporary District Court Judge earlier that year in February 1964. His position as judge was confirmed in May 1968 when he was officially sworn in by the future President of Ireland Cearbhaill O’Dalaigh and would have been a serving judge when MV Caroline was being fitted out in Greenore and when he was director of Radio Caroline. It was nor Justice Good’s first brush with pirate radio. Following a raid by the Gardai on Radio Romeo illegal broadcasting from Clontarf in July 1965, in January 1966 father and son Thomas and Michael Rogers and Brian Clancy were charged with illegal broadcasting. They were defended by their solicitor Herman Good, he told the court,

‘This is not a second Radio Caroline’.

The father was fined one pound while the teenagers including his son were fined one shilling each. Brian Clancy gave his address as the Grand Hotel, Wicklow which was owned by his family.

Herman Good was born Herman Good Gudansky in June 1906 in Dublin. In 1933 he married Belfast born Sybil Wine and they lived on Merton Road in Rathmines. Justice Good would pass away in November 1981.

The station also pandered to its blossoming Irish audience by broadcasting Ireland’s Top 30 Chart Show compiled by the New Spotlight magazine from April 1967. The top two that first week were Sandie Shaw’s ‘Puppet on a String’ at number one and Sean Dunphy’s Eurovision entry ‘If I Could Choose’ at number two. For The Dubliners and Caroline "plugging" promoted success in the entertainment world. According to Luke Kelly, plugging made them one of the first groups based in Ireland to sell their music to the British public. Four years earlier they were just nonentity’s, folk-singing around the public houses of Dublin. Then with the assistance of Solomon, they could command fees of up to £6OO per night, performing all over the UK, including London's Albert Hall. The station created the Caroline Showband and in 1965 was instrumental in getting Longford born Larry Cunningham to become the first Irish artiste to enter the British charts and a subsequent appearance on BBC’s Top of the Pops. When the American singer Jim Reeves, who Cunningham had supported on tour in Ireland, was tragically killed in a plane crash, Sligo based solicitor Eddie Masterson wrote ‘A Tribute to Jim Reeves’ which Larry recorded on King Records with his showband the Mighty Avons. One of the Mighty Avon musicians was Jimmy Smith who would set up the very successful Dublin based country and western pirate radio station TTTR in the 1980’s.

On August 14th 1967, the British Government introduced the new Marine Offences Act to curtail the success of the offshore pirates. The radio ships and forts could no longer be supplied from the British Mainland and advertising revenue was restricted. This immediately affected Caroline South who renamed themselves as Radio Caroline International but North continued as normal as the Isle of Man Government held out against their Westminster masters until September 1st to ratify the new law, described in the Manx Parliament as Black Friday.

With the British mainland and now the Isle of Man cut from resupplying Caroline North, the Drogheda Argus reported on September 15th,

‘Another chapter in the Marine Broadcasting controversy began last Thursday afternoon, when a 40-ton Dutch tender entered Dundalk quays. Twenty four hours later, the tender, Offshore III, left the wharf laden with groceries for Radio Caroline. The supplies consisted of breed, milk, meat and vegetables, and were purchased in a Dundalk store. Fresh water was also put on board. It is generally assumed that these supplies are for the crew and personnel of the "sound of the notion" Radio Caroline North.’

 

In February 1968, the Dundalk port authority’s annual returns shows that in 1967, the port had 268 movements in and out, 21 of these in four months were made by Radio Caroline’s supply boat, making up 8% of the movements. The 40 ton tender Offshore III was owned by the Wijsmuller Brothers in Holland and arrived in to Dundalk to collect, fuel, water and food for the crew and equipment. Three tenders were operated out of Holland by the Wijsmuller brothers. 'Offshore I' and 'Offshore II' supplied the ship on the east coast of England while the larger 'Offshore III' supplied Caroline North. Prior to the new Marine Offences Act the Offshore III would load in Douglas or Dublin to resupply Caroline.

According to the Pirate Radio Hall of Fame,

‘Although the two Caroline ships were continuing to broadcast, behind the scenes, it was a tough time. The isolated DJs had to endure long stints at sea and dreadful tender journeys when they did finally get some leave. And, for the bosses, the financial situation was proving difficult. With the ships being supplied and crewed from Holland, the station's money problems were exacerbated when the UK devalued the pound in November 1967. With only a limited income, bills weren't paid on time and, as the months passed, a substantial debt built up with the Wijsmuller tug and salvage company. This firm was responsible for crewing and servicing the two radio ships and, as the money owed reached £70,000, one of the Wijsmuller brothers decided that enough was enough. In an effort to get his money, he ordered his men to impound the two Caroline vessels. On March 2nd 1968 Caroline North's programming finished, as usual on a Saturday, with the late ‘Daffy’ Don Allen’s ‘Country & Western Jamboree’. Canadian born Don would be found later broadcasting on numerous Irish pirate radio stations including Radio West in Mullingar and even had a show on RTE FM3, the forerunner of Lyric FM. Soon after the station closed for the night the ship was boarded by men working for Wijsmuller. Caroline North never returned to the air, the ship was towed by the Wijsmuller tug Utrecht.

 

In November 1968 before the High Court in Dublin a winding up order was placed before Mr. Justice Kenny to wind up Planet Productions Limited moving all Caroline’s operations abroad.

Caroline still broadcasts from the Ross Revenge ship off the East coast of England but is now licensed but the music style and ethos is still the same and can be heard clearly at night in Ireland on 648khz.

 

Radio Caroline revolutionized radio for a generation, shining a light on a dark world. It led to the creation of BBC Radio 1 to compete for the ever-growing audience of young listeners. It provided an outlet for new music and it gave enjoyment to millions. There’s a reverence for what Caroline was. It was a rebel, it was an influencer, it was a genuine attempt to provide the listening public with what they wanted to hear.

 

In Ireland, Caroline opened up the possibility of an alternative to State media, and while we never had a pirate radio ship broadcasting into the country, Caroline’s success created a community of pirate radio pioneers across Ireland (some using the Caroline moniker in homage) and this pirate radio tidal wave eventually in the seventies and eighties, created the radio industry that broadcasts today.

Sources

The Pirate Radio Hall of Fame

DX Archive

World Radio History

The 1965 Radio Caroline Annual

The Irish Newspaper Archives

The British Newspaper Archives

National Inventory of Architectural Heritage Ireland

The Irish National Archives

Offshore Radio

Paul Rusling

Ancestry.com

IRISH PIRATE RADIO BLOOPERS

We have all watched TV shows like 'It'll Be Alright On The Night' or 'TV Bloopers & Practical Jokes' but on radio you can also have bloopers and even Irish pirate radio had its own fair share. With thanks to John Kenny's audio donation to the Irish Pirate Radio Archive at DCU, here are a selection of  those bloopers from recording advertisment disasters to stings gone wrong, they are all here. These come mainly from South Coast Radio in Cork and Q102 in Dublin.

    BE WARNED THESE RECORDING DO CONTAIN BAD LANGUAGE THROUGHOUT

 

The History of Radio In Donegal, Legal, Pirate, Festival and Local.

 

Radio in Donegal has had a colourful and diverse past. Like many counties across Ireland and especially in the 1970’s, town and villages organised festivals to attract visitors and improve local footfall to businesses. Of course, one of the most famous festivals is the annual Mary From Dungloe but as the world moved on a pace a new medium was used to promote these festivals, radio.

In the early seventies newspapers in Donegal were promoting Radio Ramelton, Radio Ballyshannon and Radio Letterkenny, which operated for the popular Letterkenny Folk Festival but while these activities had all the hallmarks of radio, they did not broadcast by traditional transmitter and aerial but were rather carried throughout their towns on a wired public address system.

In 1976 a new innovation led to an explosion of traditional analogue radio in Donegal thanks to the State broadcaster RTE. For that years ‘Mary from Dungloe’ festival RTE’s mobile radio station visited the town and broadcast as Community Radio Dungloe for the duration of the festival on 202m medium wave. The broadcasts were seen as a massive success but for RTE they were travelling around the country and could not commit to return annually to Dungloe. They did however visit other festivals in Donegal over the following years including Glenties, in Letterkenny and Ardara.

In 1981, RTE’s mobile service was advertised to return to Dungloe but just days before the festival launch, RTE said they would be unable to attend. This opened up the opportunity for a new form of broadcaster, the pirate station, to fill the void left by RTE. Radio Donegal had been operating from Letterkenny since April 1980. Using a standby transmitter, Radio Donegal headed to Dungloe and broadcast for the duration of the festival on 257m Medium wave.

 

Pirate radio by 1980 was booming across the country in every city, town and village. Donegal was no exception. While Radio Donegal in 1980 were announced as the first Donegal pirate, there had been a station on air towards the end of the second World War. Known as Radio Nuala, the station was located above the Beehive pub in Ardara. The operator broadcast propaganda on medium wave of a Republican nature aimed at a cross border audience.

Once Radio Donegal began the trend of illegal broadcasting, demonstrating both a need and as a revenue creator for the station operators, more pirates came on the air. This golden era of illegal broadcasting in Ireland lasted from 1978-1988 when new legislation with severely increased penalties for illegal broadcasting and a new legal framework for independent commercial and community radio came into being. Some of the stations heard on the airwaves in Donegal were,

Radio Donegal - 186mMW

A Letterkenny based station that initially opened in 1979 as Radio North-West. Radio Donegal was officially launched on Wednesday April 22nd 1980. The station stayed on air until September 1981 when transmitter issues and the loss of their audience to another Letterkenny pirate forced its closure.

 

Donegal Community Radio - 212mMW

Based in Mountcharles, this short lived station broadcast from June 1980 until early 1981. The station was set up by the local ‘radio committee’ who had successfully brought the RTE mobile station to the area in 1978 but when RTE stated that they could not visit again due to a packed schedule, they decided to set up a pirate operation.

 

Donegal Community Radio - 323mMW & 97.9mhzFM

This second incarnation of DCR was based in a room above the old ‘Funland’ building in Letterkenny. DCR opened in 1986 and closed in December 1988 when new legislation was enacted. The station was started by Paddy Simpson with Bobby McDaid later taking over the running of DCR. ^[1]

Glencoagh Radio - 262mMW & 97.8mhzFM

Originally called Westside Radio in 1987 and broadcasting initially on 266m, the station’s name clashed with a nearby station broadcasting in County Sligo. The station became Glencoagh Radio originally broadcasting from the village of Mountcharles and later from a cinema on the Main Street of Donegal town. Some of those involved in the station included Brian Curriston, Charlie Cannon and Jack Ramsey. The station closed in December 1988 after just over eighteen months on the air.

 

KTOK - 192mMW & 102.9mhzFM

KTOK was launched by Russ Padmore broadcasting from Donegal Town with studios located in the Castle Shopping Centre. The station began broadcasting on January 1^st 1987 and closed in accordance with the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1988 at 4p.m. December 31st 1988. In the studio that day were Russ Padmore, Gene Wilson, Tara Brady, David James and Hugo Boyce. On behalf of KTOK Media Services they thanked their sponsors, advertisers and listeners and played ‘Good-night Sweetheart’. Following that track they told their listeners that it was not Goodbye but just Goodnight and they played themselves off air with the theme from the television show Miami Vice.

Letterkenny Community Radio – 252m MW

LCR opened and closed 1983 and was based in Letterkenny.

                                   

Letterkenny Local Radio – 187m MW & 89.5mhzFM

Following the departure Simon O’Dwyer and Paul Millar from Radio Donegal, LLR went on the air in November 1980 broadcasting initially from 9am to 6pm. The Station closed in 1981.

^[2]

Northwest Community Radio - 269mMW & 103.5mhzFM

Northwest was launched by Jackie Crossan and Hugo Boyce in September 1984 with a one-kilowatt transmitter on medium wave and a 25-watt transmitter for their 103.5mhz FM transmitter. The station was located in Buncrana, County Donegal. Northwest closed with the introduction of the new laws in December 1988 with Jackie Crossan by that time had bought out of the station. Humorously the locals called the station because of its poor on air timekeeping as ‘No Watches or Clocks Radio’.^[3]

 

Radio 4U – 97.4mhz FM (later 96.6 & 100mhzFM)

The brainchild of Patrick Garten who had arrived from England to take advantage of the lax broadcasting laws and to broadcast primarily into Derry City, the station was initially located on the Southern side of the border in a cottage owned by Tom Brolly which had previously used as the location for City Sound Radio in County Donegal. After some test transmissions in early June 1987, the station officially went in air on Saturday June 6^th 1987.  In April 1988. The stations transmitters and equipment were sold to fellow Donegal station WABC and Radio 4U disappeared from the airwaves in May 1988.

Radio Jackie - 193mMW

An early 1980’s pirate station that broadcast in Donegal.

 

Radio North - 846khzAM & 103mhzFM

Radio North began broadcasting on November 18^th 1986 from studios located at Carndonagh, County Donegal. With a number of transmitter locations around the Foyle Peninsula the station aimed much of its broadcasts into Northern Ireland. The station was operated by Frank Callaghan. The station closed in December 1988 in accordance with the new Broadcasting legislation. In January 1989, Northside Radio came back on the air and continued for two years. Meanwhile Tommy Cunningham had opened North Atlantic Radio broadcasting on 954khz. In 1992 North moved from Carndonagh to Redcastle but their transmitters were causing interference to legal operators within Northern Ireland and moved again to Muff in Donegal. North disappeared from the airwaves but North Atlantic was rebranded as Radio North now broadcasting on 846khzAM.

 

In 2002 Paul Bentley took over the running of Radio North whose powerful transmitter could be heard in Dublin in 2011. Radio North promoted themselves as a C&W and Irish music station with family values and at weekends their airtime was sold to gospel and Christian broadcasters with the station announced as Gospel 846. Their own website states that,

‘Gospel 846 promotes family values through religious programming and family centred music programs.’

A quarter of a century after Radio North’s first broadcasts the station now broadcasts from studios at Shroove and transmitters located on the Moville Road. The station in various incarnations has been known as Northside Radio, Radio North County, Christian Radio 846, North 2000 and FM103.^[4]

 

Radio North Atlantic – 266m & 98mhzFM

Based near Carndonagh on the Inishowen peninsula, this station opened after the introduction of the new legislation in 1988. The brainchild of Tommy Cunningham who opened the station in competition with Radio North. The station was prosecuted in February 1993 following raids a number on the pirate stations located in Donegal.

 

Radio Nova - 233mMW & 97.9mhzFM

This version of Radio Nova began life as City Sound Radio broadcasting from a transmitter site in Donegal aimed into Derry City in 1985. The station moved to the small border village of Fahan in 1986 and was renamed Radio Nova 2 (to be different from the Dublin version). In April 1987 the ‘2’ was dropped and the station continued to broadcast until midnight December 31^st 1988 when it closed after a live broadcast from a pub in Buncrana.

 

WABC - 241mMW & 101.7mhzFM

Located at Greencastle, County Donegal WABC aimed its broadcasts at Northern Ireland especially the town of Coleraine. WABC at one time operated two stations WABC Hot Hits on 101.7mhz and WABC Gold on 101.2mhzFM. The stations closed in December 1988 only to return on the air in early 1989. The station finally closed when the station manager Paul Bentley departed for the UK.

 

Gospel 98 – 98mhz FM

Opened in 1989 by Angela Evans, this religious pirate broadcast a mixture of American preachers, rock music and bible quotations. The station was located on the Inishowen Peninsula in Donegal and broadcast into Northern Ireland. In February, their aerial was vandalised but it was quickly repaired only for that aerial to come crashing down during an Atlantic storm in March 1990. The insurance would not cover the damage as it ‘was an act of God’ and while with the help of fellow Donegal pirate, Radio North, the station opened an aerial fund, the station failed to get back on the air on its own but its programming was carried for four hours per day by Radio North from 3pm.

 

Tyrone Community Radio – 1512khz AM & 106.8mhzFM

TCR opened in May 1996, broadcasting from Strabane in County Tyrone but following raids by the British authorities that station relocated south of the border in the house at Castlefin near Lifford, Co. Donegal. With increased pressure from the authorities south of the border to discourage advertisers on the station, TCR began fundraising by holding dances and party themed events n and around Strabane. In August 2001, the station was raided but was back on the air within ten days. On November 24^th 2004, the station was raided again by the Gardai and officers from ComReg. Following that raid, the Donegal Democrat reported that,

‘A Castlefin farmer who allowed a pirate radio station to broadcast from his land was fined €100 and ordered to pay €1,500 in costs at a special sitting of Letterkenny District Court. Noel Burns, Ballylast, Castlefin, pleaded guilty to the charge which related to November 24, 2004. Mr Philip Rahan, BL, representing the Office of the Commission for Communications Regulator, prosecuted.

Evidence was heard from Mr Ivan Kiely, an official with the Commission, who said that he first picked up the frequency in the Lifford and Castlefin area in October 2004. On investigation he found that Tyrone Community Radio was operating from the defendant’s lands.

“They offer easy listening and main stream country music together with commercial advertising,” Mr Kiely said. The broadcast was traced to a pre-fab at Ballylast, Castlefin. On November 24, 2004, Mr Kiely arrived at the premises to execute a warrant. Mr Rahan explained that a DJ was broadcasting at the time the Commission officials arrived on site. An inventory was made of the radio equipment which was subsequently seized.’

On December 12^th 2007, TCR was raided again. John Barron of Drumdoit, Castlefin pleaded guilty to supplying electricity for broadcasting and two counts of supplying premises for broadcasting. William Baird with an address at Tirkeeran, Lifford also pleaded guilty to two charges of supplying electricity for broadcasting and one count of supplying premises for broadcasting. Judge Kilrane fined 68-year-old Barron €50 along with €750 costs for supplying electricity for broadcasting. Two charges of providing premises for broadcasting were taken into consideration.

 

Mr Tom Boyce, an inspector with ComReg told the court he had been monitoring radio signals from the TCR radio station on December 12, 2007 which in turn lead him to a prefabricated building at a premises in the Castlefin area. He reported that a man was seen running from the premises across a field but was quickly detained by a garda who had accompanied the inspection team. The prefabricated building contained the radio studio including computers, mixing desk, microphones and CD players. The electricity supply to the prefab was disconnected, he said, and a cable from a transmitter lead to another single story dwelling on the property. Boyce said he interviewed Baird who identified himself as the owner of the premises. He admitted disconnecting the electricity supply to the prefabricated building adding he believed the prefab was to be used for a taxi business and he would get help with paying the electricity bills.

 

Mr Boyce explained to the court that TCR played country music and advertisements for local businesses, adding the defendant was not at the core of running the station. William Baird was also fined €450 for supplying electricity plus €750 costs.

 

In August 2008, TCR was raided yet again but this time they were located north of the border and the warrants were executed by Ofcom and the Northern Ireland authorities. This was the sixteenth raid on the station. In 2013 the station went off the air in the hope of applying for an RSL.

 

But it was the closure of Radio Donegal after eighteen months on the air that created one of the most unique pirate radio experiments in the county. Don Clark who worked for Radio Donegal saw an opportunity to help publicise the various festivals around the country by creating a mobile service in a caravan travelling from town in town.

Radio Dungloe                        257m MW                  1981

Radio Downings                     192m MW                  1981

Radio Ceilteach                      192m MW                  1981    (Falcarragh)   

Radio Dungloe                        192m MW                  1983

Radio Lifford                          192m MW                  1983

Radio Twin Towns                 192m MW                  1983    (Ballybofey and Stranolar)

Radio Dungloe                        198m MW                  1985

Radio Cunamh                        187m MW & 96FM    1985    Letterkenny

Radio Killybegs                      192m MW                  1985

Radio Killybegs                      205m MW                  1986

The legal stations have included these stations including today’s leading local station, Highland Radio based in Letterkenny. Highland began broadcasting on March 15th 1990 having been awarded the new licence from the IRTC. The southern part of the county along with Sligo and Leitrim was covered initially by North West Radio but they lost their licence in 2004 to be replaced by Ocean FM. Community in the county in the past has included Inishowen Community Radio and Donegal Bay FM and today is served by temporary licences awarded to Owenea FM, Finn Valley FM and Rosses Radio. 

Today (February 2023) there is one pirate still operating in the county, Radio North.

https://www.facebook.com/DublinsPirateDays/videos/5878453322204545/

There are other non-licenced stations operating on FM across Donegal as various Catholic and Protestant churches broadcast Mass and services mostly on Sundays but also for funeral services.

Sources

The DX Archive

Radiowaves.fm

Pirate.ie

The Irish Pirate Radio Archive

The Anoraks Ireland Collection at DCU

The Irish Newspaper Archives

The British Newspaper Archives

Tommy Rosney

Russ Padmore   

---

[1] Donegal Democrat

[2] The Donegal Democrat

[3] Gerry O’Reilly

[4] As of January 31^st 2023, the station was still on the air broadcasting illegally