1930's Irish Radio Analysis - Part Three. The Catholic Church

The Eucharistic Congress in 1932 was a logistical nightmare for the under resourced Irish radio station 2RN. Despite the fact that station just six years old it carried out a number of major outside broadcasts from across Dublin. These programmes were relayed by landline to Athlone whose new transmitter was operating at sixty kilowatts allowing coverage over much of Europe. The powerful transmitter allowed for coverage across Ireland. For those with radio sets it was a massive improvement in quality but the broadcasts were relayed on receivers in churches and halls across the country allowing everyone access for the first time to listen to 2RN. The Congress marked the first time that the overwhelmingly Catholic population heard the voice of the Pope relayed over the Athlone transmitter on the final day of the Congress. Reaction to the broadcasts in the print media was positive and commended the station on their achievements.

The first Eucharistic Congress was held in 1881 under Pope Leo XIII. The congresses were organised by a Papal Committee for Eucharistic Congresses to increase devotion to the Eucharist as a part of the practice of faith, and as a public witness of faith to Catholic population at large. The 31st International Eucharistic Congress was held in Dublin, 21-26 June, 1932. It was the premier international Catholic event. The 1932 Congress provided the platform for the Irish Free State Government of DeValera to assert their position as a leading Catholic nation. It had been the largest public gathering in twentieth-century Ireland until the 1979 visit of Pope John Paul II. There was even an act passed by the Government specifically for the event titled the Eucharistic Congress (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1932.

Congresses were often linked with anniversaries or other events special to Christians and in particular to Catholics of the country in which they took place. The 30th Congress which took place in Carthage, Tunis, commemorated the death of St. Augustine. The Dublin congress commemorated the death of St. Patrick, Ireland’s patron saint.

The new Irish State mobilised its meagre resources in order to meet the challenge posed by this show case. The arrival of the special Papal Legate, Cardinal Lorenzo Lauri at Dún Laoghaire Harbour at the beginning of Congress Week was greeted by thousands along the harbour piers and the Papal Mass in the Phoenix Park six days later was attended by over 1,000,000 of the faithful. The event was considered to be an outstanding success. The Irish State had successfully entertained literally thousands of churchmen and laity who came to Dublin from every corner of the globe to pray and Irish radio was there to cover every minute of the event.

In 1934 despite the success of the Eucharistic Broadcasts the New South Wales Press reported

‘Many readers may be surprised to learn that there is not a Catholic radio station in Ireland. No doubt the reason is that because the country is so overwhelmingly Catholic, people believed that when the DeValera Government founded the powerful Athlone station it would be a Catholic station. Perhaps it is in a sense, but as it is a Government service most of its work is civic. The announcement is now made that an exclusive Catholic radio station may be opened in Ireland. There is no official confirmation of the news, which appeared in a Dublin newspaper, but on the other hand it has not been denied. Negotiations are said to be proceeding with the Government, and Mr. DeValera is known to be favourable to the project, which, if it succeeds, would enable an effective relay of the Vatican station. Wireless experts have been busy with suggestions since the project was announced, and these include the provision of a shortwave station and the establishment of a landline from Italy.’

It was a source of frustration for the Church authorities and Catholics in general that the national radio station did not carry weekly Mass. This was all the more difficult when the faithful knew that the station in Belfast broadcast a Daily Service and a Sunday service from various Protestant churches across Northern Ireland. The Church authorities viewed DeValera and his Government with suspicion despite the success of the Eucharistic Congress. The Church Hierarchy had supported the Pro Treaty forces and Cosgrave’s Government during the Civil War and DeValera had been excommunicated for his anti treaty activities but this was quietly ignored after he won the 1932 General Election. DeValera’s Department for Posts and Telegraphs never pressured the state broadcaster to broadcast Mass.

Although not officially an anti Catholic stance, the lack of religion and religious services was a great source of annoyance for the Church. The Church had been a great supporter of radio when it first went on air in 1926 believing that ultimately it would be an extension of its dominance over a subservient faithful population. This stance seemed to be annually contradicted when 2RN (later Radio Athlone and Radio Eireann) ceased all broadcasts on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of Easter Week up to 1936 when the only silent day was Good Friday.

The church exerted further influence on broadcasting in Ireland with the Anti Jazz movement which we will cover in the next post.

1930's Irish Radio Analysis - Part Two. The GAA

The men of the nation were now able to listen to a broadcast of the All Ireland GAA Finals live hundreds of miles from Croke Park. They did not have to a wait some one returning from Dublin to get the result, waits days for a newspaper report, the match was instantaneous as was the discussion about the game. The game was no longer of interest to just the two counties involved but it was a national event. In the case of rugby commentaries some listeners heard a sport being described for the very first time. The Irish Radio News would print a numbered diagram of the pitch to help listeners follow the commentary. Radio opened up sports to a wider audience, GAA enthusiasts could listen to a rugby or soccer game on the radio from the safety of your own home even though the GAA itself frowned upon these ‘English’ games.

The GAA would have an uneasy relationship with broadcasting coming to a head in 1937 with what was referred to in newspaper headlines as a ‘crux’. Radio Athlone had been broadcasting the Provincial finals in both Hurling and Football, the All Ireland semi finals and Finals plus the Railway Cup finals from Croke Park on St. Patrick’s Day. In 1937 the GAA informed Radio Athlone and its Director TJ Kiernan that it required the right to appoint commentators for their games. This was rejected with Kiernan stating in an open letter printed in the Irish Press on September 3rd 1937,

‘As you informed on a previous occurrence, the proposal that the broadcaster (commentator) should be selected by the GAA is not acceptable. It would be the equivalent of transferring to the GAA part control of the State Broadcasting Service’.

The GAA refused permission to Radio Athlone to broadcasts the 1937 Railway Cup Finals. Both sides became entrenched and when Radio Athlone announced that Sean O’Ceallachain and Eamon DeBarra would be commentating on the All Ireland hurling final from Killarney, Kerry permission was again denied by the GAA insisting that a commentator of their choosing be behind the microphone. Broadcasting the final was even more important as it was the first All Ireland held outside Dublin in 30 years and the first All Ireland final to be held in Kerry when Kilkenny played Tipperary in 1937 Hurling Final.

A letter writing campaign orchestrated by the local GAA committees bombarded the newspapers but Kiernan held his ground. Both sides disputed the costs involved with the GAA stating that the director wanted the GAA to pay for the commentator while Kiernan said that all costs including transport, engineering and the commentator was being paid for by the State broadcaster.

There would be no play by play commentary for the 1937 All Ireland Hurling Finals and no facilities within the ground made available to the broadcaster. Their alternative was to have their two chosen commentators O’Ceallachain and DeBarra stand with the crowd and write down their play by play. O’Ceallachain covered the first half and exited the ground to go to Killarney Post Office where a microphone awaited and he relayed the game from 4.15 – 4.45pm. DeBarra followed with second half until 5.15pm. It was unsatisfactory but inventive under the circumstances.

The blame from the grassroots was divided with some GAA councils openly criticizing the Central Council and its president Padraig O’Keeffe. A compromise was eventually reached for the All Ireland Football finals two weeks later when a compromise commentator Canon Michael Hamilton, the Chairman of the Clare County Board agreed to bring the running commentary to the listeners. (ALL Ireland contested between Cavan and Kerry) A year later and a new voice would be brought on board who would become the voice of the GAA at home and abroad.

For the 1938 GAA season a new voice was heard on the airwaves and would dominate for almost fifty years.  

 ‘Bail ó Dhia oraibh a chairde Gael agus fáilte romhaibh go Páirc an Chrócaigh’ 

Known as the voice of the GAA for almost fifty years, Michael O’Hehir was born in Glasnevin, Dublin on June 20th 1920 to parents from County Clare. His father, Jim O'Hehir, who was born in Lack, County Clare was very active in the GAA, having trained his native county to win the 1914 All-Ireland title in hurling. He subsequently trained the Leitrim football team who secured the 1927 Connacht provincial title and later serving as an official with the GAA Dublin Junior Board and chairman of Civil Service and St.Vincent’s Dublin GAA clubs. Michael was educated at St. Patrick's National School in Drumcondra before later attending the O'Connell School, a Christian Brothers-run institution in the city centre. He later studied electrical engineering at University College Dublin however he abandoned his studies after just one year to pursue a full-time career in broadcasting. He enjoyed a distinguished hurling career with the St. Vincent's club in Raheny. Michael became fascinated with the radio when he received a present of one as a child. He had just turned eighteen and was still a school-boy when he wrote to Radio Éireann asking to do a test commentary and after the events of 1937 the station were looking for a new voice that was acceptable to them and the GAA.

He was accepted and was asked, along with five others, to do a five-minute microphone test for a National Football League game between Wexford and Louth. His microphone test impressed the director of broadcasting T.J. Kiernan so much that he was invited to commentate on the whole of the second half of the match.

Two months later in August 1938 Michael made his first broadcast - the All-Ireland football semi-final when Galway defeated Monaghan at Mullingar’s Cusack Park. He went on to commentate on the second semi-final and that year's final between Galway and Kerry. The following year he covered his first hurling final - the famous "thunder and lightning final" as Kilkenny beat Cork by a score of 2-7 to 3-3.

Sports broadcasts in Ireland was still in its infancy at this stage, however, his Sunday afternoon commentaries quickly became a way of life for many rural listeners who gathered around radio sets to listen to the games. As a man who could ‘make a boring game interesting’, by the mid-1940s Michael was recognised as one of Ireland's leading sports broadcasters.

1930's Irish Radio Analysis - Part One. Society Changed by the Wireless

Irish Radio in the 1930's was to be educational. Its early aims were to teach farmers how to farm better and improve productivity holding out the dream of a better way of life. It would teach new languages including Irish, French, German and Esperanto. It would help to teach children many of whom had left school early to work the family farm or just to survive. Radio would provide women more help in the kitchen, which they rarely left. There was a hope that the station could be all things to everyone but it ended up being nothing to anyone except those who could criticise or take monetary advantage. The arrival of radio would alter the Irish people and their persona more than the introduction of the telegraph, telephone or even television. Rural Ireland and its way of life would be radically altered with the arrival of the station and radio itself.

The monetary value of radio broadcasts were exploited as village fairs, fetes and charity events across Ireland advertised ‘Dances by Wireless’ as a way of generating revenue. These events were ‘paid in’ events with music relayed by a radio set (known popularly as ‘the wireless’) on a stage and dancing on the main floor, an early form of nightclub or for a later generation The TV Club. These events were often organised by the local parish priest to raise funds for local charities, church and school repairs or for the running of the church itself. The parochial organisers often saw themselves as the ‘censor in chief’ monitoring what their flock listened to and protecting the moral fibre of the community. Prior to the arrival of the ‘Irish station’ this was difficult as they had no control over the choice of music being played by international radio stations.

Entertainment was an escape from the trauma of the battlefield, the poor and distressed living conditions and the mundane hand to mouth existence of much of the rural Irish population. In many homes in Ireland late at night the only light in the front room was the light of the Sacred Heart photograph on the wall and in the dial of their radio set. For rural Ireland many of the new technologies of the early part of the twentieth century like the motor car, the aeroplane and even electricity meant little to the Irish farmer, who dominated Ireland’s ‘industrial’ output in the 1920's but radio was affordable especially with a homemade crystal set. An increase in the number of licences in rural Ireland was not seen until the latter part of the thirties as listeners abandoned the crystal set for a production model. The increase was also attributed to the launch of not just a Dublin broadcasting station but a national station accessible in every part of the country.

What difference would radio make to the simple, uneducated farmer living in Dingle or Ballina? Rural Ireland was isolated, it was agricultural based and poorly educated. News of happenings outside your four walls came through word of mouth often offered at the church gates on a Sunday or the communal newsreader. The communal newsreader was the local who had a better degree of education than most and was able to read the newspaper. This led to a gathering where the reader would educate and entertain their neighbours with the contents of a newspaper that was often more than a week old. But events outside their townland or parish had little effect on their lives or so they assumed. M.R. Heffernan TD, the Secretary at the Department of Posts and Telegraphs in an article he wrote for The Irish Radio News told the farming community that he believed

            ‘broadcasting will help towards filling the gaps in the lives of our rural population, which gaps at present are dull and uncultivated gaps.’

The arrival of radio made the communal newsreader unemployed as you did not need to read and write to be able to listen to the news via the wireless and form your own opinions. There was still the gathering, the social third place after work and domestic living, but the nature and tone of the gathering had changed. Before radio broadcasts, entertainment centered on the house party. Locals would gather, drink perhaps some locally distilled spirit, sing traditional tunes and sean nos dance on the grey flagged stone floors while maintaining the Irish art of the storytelling. But now the radio broadcast was the centre of attention. People listened in silence to the music and the news.

The local traditional music was not just the only music available to the listener especially the young and impressionable. Marching band music, Operas, Jazz, crooning which was invented for radio vied with traditional Irish music for the listeners attention with the native airs no longer locally based but a national identity.  Musicians from Kerry could now hear musicians from Donegal and like an accent or a dialect there were often variations in the way the same traditional tune was played. There were new influences appearing in traditional Irish music much to the dismay of traditionalists and purists and for this radio was blamed. It was a diluting of the traditional and a moving away from the Irish culture and heritage that was once almost lost and certainly driven underground under Britain rule. For many who did not appreciate how radio worked, their belief that an Irish radio station could have the same isolationist attitude as the nation as a whole ignored the fact that the ether was carrying other influences and stations into the sometime naïve Ireland.  

But now the social equilibrium was broken as a new voice entered the home. This new unseen voice was full of new ideas, ideologies and advancements that produced change faster than the listener could adapt. The radio set was the first piece of twentieth century technology to enter the Irish home. In most houses even before electricity the radio set was the only piece of modern furniture. For many households who bought an imported radio set it was a major investment in tough economic times.

Women were suddenly not lonely when their men folk were out in the fields or cutting turf on the bogs. They were gaining in independence, more receptive to new ideas. The radio was a window on the world rather than a world that just involved the people and events of the next town land. The Irish had let this unseen stranger into their homes in a very intimate way. There were no formal introductions, their way no way to judge by a man’s looks if he was honest or not. This voice from the box was invading a space traditionally reserved for the man of the house even though that person by the act of purchasing a radio set issued an unwritten invitation. The sense of wonderment that somehow you were listening to a broadcaster or a musician in Paris, France while you sat in your kitchen in Kerry was in itself a complicated concept to accept by a simple man from of the land. If you lived on an isolated farm the only voices you would hear were those of your family, your neighbours and perhaps a few villagers as you attended Mass on a Sunday. This totalled less than one hundred people but by listening to the radio you had doubled that total in one week.

People began to speak about presenters in the same way they would talk about a family member even though they would never actually cross paths. Presenters were becoming household names. There was a third presence in a marriage whether the spouses liked it or not. The first battle over what should be listened to was now breaking out. Different styles of music and not just Irish traditional music was drawing greater audiences. When local musicians came to the house they played the tunes they knew and same way they always played them but they were now becoming redundant as with a turn of the dial or a movement of the aerial, ‘new’ music was being heard.

When they heard Birmingham, Manchester, Pittsburgh or New York there was a sense of connection for many of the older generations as these were the cities that their families had emigrated to during and after the famine. Many had lost touch completely never knowing for sure if their brother, sister, son or daughter made it to their new land of opportunity. Even though there was no direct personal contact on the radio, the thought that you were hearing programmes from New York at the same time as a family member was in that city brought a sense of peace and understanding. It drew line under some of the hurt caused by the enforced separations.

Radio changed the social activities of the natives. Radio became a national culture and a disseminator of culture. No longer did people have a parochial or provincial window on life they were now part of a bigger country or the world Listeners across the length and breath of the country were able to hear the same music, talk or news at the same time as everyone else. The advertisement of products was now a national endeavour rather than a local necessity.  Radio became a shared experience with people they would never meet. There was no need to leave the house to be entertained. No need to go to the theatre as 2RN broadcast plays, no need for vaudeville as comedians embraced the new medium and the musical hall came to your living room rather than the need to travel or pay an admission fee even though a licence fee was required to listen to the radio but the purchase of licences outside the urban conurbations was slow. The radio also meant that your entertainment requirements were not affected by inclement weather. The way we were entertained and the way we demanded to be entertained reached new plateaus.

The men of the nation were able to listen to a broadcast of the All Ireland GAA Finals live and we will look as the new stations uneasy relationship with Ireland’s largest sporting body in the next post.

A Couple of Slides from NORTHERN IRELAND PIRATE RADIO Lecture

'No Borders' Radio in Ireland

Just like it is today the border between the new Irish Free State and Northern Ireland following the passing of the Treaty that ended the War of Independence was not to everyone’s liking but radio did not recognize so called hard borders and its signal in the ether was transnational. 

On December 13^th 1927 at 8 pm a unique experiment took place, that at least for forty five minutes united the island of Ireland. A comedy revue titled ‘Hip Hip Hooradio’ was staged at the Empire Theatre in Belfast. The show was transmitted live by the Belfast radio station 2BE but in a moment of broadcasting history it was also relayed by 2RN in Dublin and 6CK in Cork. 

The Lord Mayors of the three cities recorded greetings for each other which were aired before the relay. The Lord Mayor of Belfast Rt. Hon. Sir William Turner attended the Empire in person and spoke into the microphone from the stage. The comedy revue was written by Richard Hayward and Gerald McNamara and was described in the pre-publicity as having ‘seventeen scenes of fun and frolic’ performed by the Ulster Players. The show was set in a radio station studio. Some of those who performed in the show were Vivian Worth, Marian Wright, Kitty Murphy, Dorothy Camlin, Jack Chambers, Richard Hayward, Jack Gavin and Kenneth Coffey.

 While the relay was well advertised in the Dublin newspapers, the Belfast newspaper like the Telegraph and the Northern Whig advertised the show at the Empire Theatre just before it closed for renovations and the fact that it would be relayed on the 'wireless' but did not push the fact that it was being relayed on Free State radio stations. 

Gardening Shows on Pirate Radio

When I was conducting interviews into research on Belfast pirate radio, one story that stood out was Speak Your Peace 101 FM. The station based above a vegetable shop was challenging, diverse and anarchist. It's diversity is best illustrated as one of the programmes that they aired was a discussion on the market conditions on the then sale of drugs in Belfast. They provided current street prices on various illegal narcotics and while they did not endorse the taking of drugs they did give general directions as to where drugs could be purchased. They show and its presenters proved very popular with listeners but not with the authorities but the authorities were listening and taking notes as a number of raids and arrests followed discussions on the air. 

To follow this controversial show was 'The Gardening Hour', but this was no ordinary horticultural show in fact the show gave an in depth guide on how to grow and cultivate cannabis, and like the lead it show it proved very popular on Speak Your Peace.

The Legacy of Irish Pirate Radio

What is the real legacy of pirate radio in Ireland? As we approach the 30^th anniversary of the Wireless Telegraphy Act and the closing of many of Ireland’s most iconic and successful pirate radio stations was there more to that period other than the rosy tinted nostalgia for a pre-social media, fake news and Brexit?

Pirate radio has a long tradition in Ireland dating back to the 1916 Rising when a rebel radio apparatus made Ireland the first nation in the world to be declared by radio. In Britain the pirate radio that created the need for a pop music channel was located on the high seas with the likes of Radio Caroline but in Ireland the radio buccaneers remained on dry land. The plethora of pirate radio stations in Ireland exposed the listening public to the possibility of an alternative to RTE Radio. It created an awareness of the power of radio and it also demonstrated to financial giants that radio in Ireland could generate huge turnovers.

Pirate radio across Ireland in cities, towns and villages gave a voice to communities and allowed local businesses to advertise local people. The golden era of pirate radio for the decade 1978 to 1988 was the birth of a fledgling radio industry that today directly employs hundreds of people and indirectly thousands in ancillary service such as transmission provision, PR companies and advertising agencies. In the late seventies the hobby, bedroom room, homemade transmitter pirate station was making way for more grounded yet still illegal stations with imported purposely built transmitters, studios and offices located in Georgian buildings and formats that were attracting listeners and advertisers.

It created a host of media personalities many of them still on radio and television today. Household names trained and mentored on pirate radio. Pirate radio was a beacon of light in times of local crises. RTE is a national state broadcaster trying to cater to everyone’s needs and tastes while BLB was Bray Local Broadcasting in every sense of its title. When Hurricane Charlie struck the seaside town in 1986, BLB was the glue that held a community together. It informed, it comforted and it made a difference.

Without pirate radio some of Ireland’s most famous musicians would not have had a platform for success. Would U2 have become the global force they have become if in the 1970's and 80's they were solely reliant on RTE Radio 2 for exposure? Would Daniel O’Donnell have become the massive star he is without the airplay from TTTR, Radio Star Country or Mid West Radio?

Pirate radio shone a light on dull, dark Ireland and for that as a nation we should be thankful and praise the contribution of all those pirate broadcasters across Ireland we have made a difference.