Were you involved in any of Donegal's pirate radio stations back in the day?

The 1980s was something of a golden age of radio here in Donegal, with a number of hugely popular pirate stations broadcasting within the county.

Now a radio historian is compiling a national archive in Dublin City University (DCU) and he is coming to Donegal in search of material.

While unlicensed radio stations had been illegal for decades, a court ruling in the late 1970s opened up a loophole that many entrepreneurs and radio enthusiasts were quick to exploit.

The gist of the ruling was that if the equipment could be shown to be used for a purpose other than broadcast, it couldn't be seized. And if it couldn't be seized, it was hard to prove that it was being used for broadcast.

Alternative uses that were cited included training DJs. 

Throughout the 1980s, a thriving local radio industry grew, with an estimated 200 stations across Ireland in the pirate radio heyday.

Here in Donegal, pirate stations included KTOK, Glencoagh Radio, Donegal Community Radio, North West Community Radio, WABC, and our own Radio Nova operating out of a premises in Fahan. There was a fantastic sense of community ownership to pirate radio stations.

They allowed businesses to reach a very targeted local advertising audience; they provided local news as it happened, a new concept long before we had the internet at our fingertips. 

Pirate radio provided a great platform for those looking to dip their toe into the industry, be it music enthusiasts or talk show hosts. And some fantastic, memorable characters were created, bringing a good sprinkling of humour into our lives. 

Radio historian Eddie Bohan is curating the Irish Pirate Radio Archive for DCU and he will be in Donegal and Derry from February 15 to 17, basing himself in Letterkenny for the visit.

"I'm hoping that some people who were involved in the golden era of Donegal pirate radio 1978 to 1988, might have photos, flyers or audio tapes that could donate or loan to the archive for digitisation so future generations can understand the brilliant contribution they made to both Radio and social history," he said. 

Anyone who wishes to contact Eddie can do so at [email protected]

Here at Donegal Live, many of us have our own wonderful memories of pirate radio and we'd love to hear yours. Please feel free to contact us at [email protected] and share your memories, whether as a listener or someone who was involved.