Dublin
Sunshine Radio on test two weeks after an act of sabotage brought their mast crashing to the ground before the station could get off the ground.
In the first clip, Tony Allan is on air for a test broadcast on September 28th…
…and in the second clip, Robbie Dale is first on air from 4.55pm and he’s followed by Chris Cary.
More test broadcasts from Sunshine Radio. This time Chris Cary is on air on the morning of September 29th in this recording starting at 7.14.
First Peter Madison, and then Chris Cary on air for Sunshine 539 on November 10th 1980. This recording starts at 1.15pm.
This time around it’s Chris Cary on air for Sunshine 539. From 1980, this November 22nd recording starts at 9.40am.
From January 29th 1981 this is Sunshine Radio from just before 9am.
In this recording of the Dublin station, we hear the final link from Peter Madison before Robbie Dale starts his 9am show.
Adrian Horsman reads the News.
Robbie Dale
This recording is with thanks to Chris Ridley
Radio Retro – archiving Irish Radio broadcasts since 2002
This is a recording of Sunshine Radio from 8.46am on April 5th 1982.
First we hear from Tony Fenton and he’s followed at 9am by Robbie Dale.
Enjoy the recording either as it was broadcast (there are some minor edits) or with the music stripped out…
Tony Fenton from 8.46am – as broadcast
Robbie Dale from 9am – as broadcast
With the music stripped out…
Radio Retro – archiving Irish Radio broadcasts since 1982
This is Declan Meehan’s final show for Sunshine Radio from June 18th 1982. We join the broadcast, which was recorded off 531kHz, at 4.45pm.
Tom Hardy follows Declan from 6pm, here’s a few minutes of his show.
Radio Retro – archiving Irish Radio broadcasts in collaboration with Ian Biggar
This is a recording of Sunshine Radio from October 27th 1982 with the inimitable Peter Madison on air from 4.25pm.
Frank Ryan is the news presenter.
Enjoy the recording either as it was broadcast or with the music stripped out…
As broadcast
Airchecked…
Radio Retro – archiving Irish Radio broadcasts since 2002
Sunshine Radio May 19th 1983
This is the morning the Sun went out over Portmarnock. The day after a raid against Radio Nova Sunshine Radio decided to continue broadcasting.
First, from 7.43, this is David Lyons on Breakfast.
David hands over to Robbie Dale from 9am
From 1983, this is a recording of Sunshine Radio’s return to the airwaves. The Dublin station had remained off the air following the raid on them on May 19th but they finally returned on June 12th.
The first recording starts at 11.45am with the build-up to the station’s return, and then David Lyons is on from midday…
From 3pm Eugene Higgins celebrates the return…
This Radio Retro recording is presented by kind courtesy of DX Archive
The story of the 1983 raids on Radio Nova and Sunshine Radio
A recording of Robbie Dale on his morning show on Dublin superpirate Sunshine Radio from April 9th 1984
A full morning’s recording from April 26th 1984 – an eventful day in the history of Sunshine Radio.
Following weeks of an RTÉ jamming campaign on the station’s FM frequencies, the day before this broadcast a jammer was turned on to the MW frequency. It didn’t last long as the semi-state broadcaster managed to jam their own stations as well.
However, this was a whole new day…which starts at 6.50am with David Lyons at the mic.
From 9am Robbie Dale oversees some dramatic developments.
With the situation now very desperate Andy Rua takes to the air at midday.
This is Robbie Dale on the Dublin superpirate Sunshine Radio from the morning of September 14th 1984.
Robbie Dale
This recording is from a cassette very kindly donated by Keith Lewis
Radio Retro: archiving Irish radio broadcasts since 2002
Click on the name to hear lots more from Sunshine Radio
This is a recording of the Dublin station Sunshine 101FM from the morning of September 11th 1985.
We join Pat Courtenay (right) in the Breakfast slot at 8.40am; and he’s followed by a short clip of Robbie Dale’s mid-morning show from 10am.
If you have any recordings on cassette or mp3 that you’d like to donate to our Irish Radio Recordings Archive please drop a line to recordings@radiowaves.fm
Pat Courtenay
Robbie Dale
This recording is by very kind courtesy of Gary Hogg
Radio Retro: archiving Irish radio broadcasts since 2002
Click on the name to hear lots more from Sunshine Radio or Pat Courtenay
This is a short recording of Sunshine Radio with Paul Vincent from the early hours of September 24th 1985.
This is Pat Courtenay on Drive for Dublin station Sunshine 101FM. The recording starts just as the 5pm News with Cathy Cregan is coming to a finish. The date is July 4th 1986 – American Independence Day – which is too good of an opportunity for Pat’s comedic talent to ignore.
As broadcast
Recording is thanks to Gary Hogg at DX Archive
Radio Retro: archiving Irish radio broadcasts since 2002
Click on the name to hear lots more from Sunshine Radio or Pat Courtenay
From July 9th 1986 this is Pat Courtenay on Drivetime for Dublin station Sunshine 101FM. The recording starts just as the 5pm News with Justin McKenna is coming to a finish and you have a choice to listen to the broadcast either as it aired or with the music stripped out.
As broadcast
Music stripped out
Radio Retro: archiving Irish radio broadcasts since 2002
Click on the name to hear lots more from Sunshine Radio or Pat Courtenay
This recording of the Dublin superpirate Sunshine Radio is from August 26th 1986
This particular day saw the culmination of a long-running listener competition with a live broadcast from Tomangos.
There’s a short clip from Tony Dixon’s show as he hands over to Pat Courtenay, who warms up the listening audience before handing over to Robbie Dale/Robinson and Mark Byrne for the presentation from the nightclub.
Once the winner is announced the outside broadcast comes to an end and they hand back to Steve Kelly in the studio.
Listen
Recording is thanks to Gary Hogg at DX Archive
Radio Retro: archiving Irish radio broadcasts since 2002
Click on the name to hear lots more from Sunshine Radio, Pat Courtenay, Robbie Dale or Mark Byrne
From early morning on February 26th 1987 this is the red hot sound of Sunshine 101 with Nails Mahoney and Justin McKenna doing the honours for the Dublin station. The recording was taken from 101.0MHz.
Listen
Radio Retro: archiving Irish radio broadcasts since 2002
Click on the name to hear lots more from Sunshine Radio or Nails Mahoney
This is Sunshine 101 FM from their Hot Hits period in July 1988.
This is a short recording of the Dublin station Sunshine 101 from the evening of July 16th 1988.
Radio Retro – archiving Irish Radio recordings since 2002
This is Bee Bop Gold with Nails Mahoney on Sunshine 101 FM from 9.05am on the morning of July 17th 1988.
Radio Retro – archiving Irish Radio since 2002
From Sunshine Radio’s second last day of broadcast, this is a broadcast of a special ceremony at the station’s Baggot Street HQ.
This is ‘The Final Show’ from Dublin superpirate Sunshine Radio.
Newly introduced legislation required all unlicensed stations to vacate the airwaves at the end of 1988 or face huge fines and possible imprisonment.
Sunshine Radio scheduled their switch off for 6pm on December 30th and ran an all day special show looking back at the history of the station, year by year, from its launch in September 1980.
Paul Kavanagh was in the studio all day and many others came and went.
The main presenters were:-
Dusty Rhodes from 9am;
Mark Byrne from Midday;
Nails Mahoney and Justin McKenna from 4pm
The full day is included here and there are a couple of ways to listen – either by picking an hour (year) or in two large blocks.
9am-3pm
3pm – Closedown
Listen hour by hour…
08:45 Nails Mahoney
09:00 The Final Show 1980
10:00 The Final Show 1981
11:00 The Final Show 1982
12:00 The Final Show 1983
13:00 The Final Show 1984
14:00 The Final Show 1985
15:00 The Final Show 1986
16:00 The Final Show 1987
17:00 The Final Show 1988
