A British made HMV radio from the late 1930s
It includes a Short waveband and 6 pre-set stations, 4 on Medium Wave, 2 on
Long Wave.
Radio Éireann Signature
Most of the sound files on this page are in RealAudio
format. If you don't already have a RealPlayer, you can download a free copy
from www.real.com. The player is
also often available on the CD Roms supplied free with Internet monthlies.
Radio Éireann
THE LAST HOWTH TRAM (May, 1959) -
Joe Linnane talks to the driver during the scenic five mile journey from Sutton to Howth on
the last ever Howth Tram (3 mins. 33 secs. in RealAudio.)
Radio Éireann, 2RN, as it was initially called, began broadcasting
from Dublin on January 1, 1926 and as 6CK from Cork in 1927.
In 1932 these stations were augmented by a high power station at Athlone operating at
60 kW.
O'DONNELL ABU (1935) is the
famous Radio Éireann signature that became so familiar to many
listeners over the years.
It is the introductory audio clip for this Radio Gems page.
The Dublin, Cork and Athlone stations adopted a common call sign of
"Radio Athlone". This call sign was replaced by "Radio Éireann" in 1937. Radio
Éireann remained the callsign until 1966 when the name was changed to RTE Radio
(Radio Telefís Éireann in the Gaelic language)
to reflect the new governing authority (established in 1960).
The Athlone station was replaced by a 500 kW watt station at Tullamore in 1975 which
remains open today on 567 kHz. Athlone was reopened in 1979 to carry the RTE Radio 2
service on 612 kHz with a power of 100 kW. Today, only RTE Radios 1 and 2 and
Atlantic 252 (252 kHz, not meters) broadcast on AM (and LW).
FM stereo broadcasting began in Ireland in 1966. RTE Radio 1 broadcasts between
88-90 MHz, 2FM broadcasts between 90-92 MHz and FM3/Radio na Gaeltachta share a frequency, which
broadcasts between 92-94 MHz. FM3 is a classical music station and RnaG is an Irish language
station.
RTE Radio 1, 2FM and Lyric FM, a classical station, broadcast live on the Internet in
RealAudio.
All these stations and several others can be selected from Radio Gem's
Panorama Radio
Eamonn De Valera
(1882-1975). Irish statesman, born in Brooklyn, New York, of Irish-Spanish
parents. He was brought up in Bruree, County Limerick by his uncle, labouror. After
graduating from Blackrock College, Dublin he became a mathematics teacher. A member of the
Gaelic League, he joined the Irish volunteers, leading his men into the Easter Rising
of 1916. His death sentence was commuted after intervention by the US consul and he was
elected MP for East Clare in 1917. In 1918 he was rearrested but escaped and toured
the USA collecting funds for the nationalist cause. He served as president from 1959
to 1973. In this archive he recalls his youth during an interview at the Radio Eireann studios in
Cork. (4 mins. 38 secs. RealAudio.)
RTE News
Gay Byrne, Ireland’s most influential broadcaster, retired after 26 years from his
radio show, the Gay Byrne Show. Includes video and audio clips. RTE News Online,
December 24 1998. (10 mins. 44 secs. RealVideo.)
Good Morning Ireland:
Gay started hosting the Late Late Show, the world’s longest-running live television
talk show, in 1962. Media Correspondent, Colm Connolly, looks back over Gaybo's
career. (19 mins. 6 secs. RealAudio.)
The Late Late Show - Nat King Cole: One of my favourite songs from Nat, a brief
clip of which was played either at the commercial breaks or the rolling of the
credits (I can't remember which!) on the Late Late Show for nearly 30 years.
I never heard this song on the radio - apart from Kay
Starr's equally vigorous rendition. It was only whilst perusing the CD racks of a
dime and nickel store in Chelmsford in Essex in 1999, I discovered it on a £4.99
collection of Nat King Cole gems. (That's four English pounds and ninety nine pence
to my visitors in the US where the pound
symbol is rendered as a # symbol!) The song was recorded in the Capitol studios in Los
Angelos in July 1958. (2 mins. 35 secs. in RealAudio.)
The Frankie Byrne Show: Ireland's first and Radio Éireann's own agony aunt, Frankie Byrne, whose legendary programme with its 'Dear Frankie' letters of advice was broadcast from 1963 - 1985. In this clip Frankie reads a selection of letters from the lovelorn. Included in the clip are four classic songs from Frank Sinatra, an artist that was featured on the program every week (18 mins. 38 secs. in RealAudio at 20.7Kbs.)
