Pioneers of Kilkenny radio remembered as community station celebrates 40th birthday
COMMUNITY Radio Kilkenny City is going back to where it all started tomorrow.
The station will take a nostalgic trip down memory lane live from 10am to 5pm as it broadcasts from the old studios in Ballycallan to mark the 40th birthday of community radio in Kilkenny.
KCR began in 1979 from Crossroad Studios in Ballycallan. And the radio station is extending an invitation to the public to drop by tomorrow and say hello, listen to live music and chat at the old studios and enjoy some nostalgia and nibbles.
The late Mike Breen was the first voice on air in KCR in 1979. Some of well-known earlier presenters included Tom Dowling, Kay Sheehy and Mike O’Brien. Several of the KCR presenters are still involved with community radio as board members and/or presenters on today’s CRKC. They were part of the heyday of pirate radio in Ireland that existed before the introduction of commercial radio in 1989. Like other pirate stations, KCR broadcast on MW and was part of a fascinating period in Irish broadcasting.
CRKC station manager Declan Gibbons said: “Without KCR there would be no Community Radio Kilkenny City. Today’s Community Radio Kilkenny City, which is community-based, volunteer-led and dedicated to promoting the aims and ideals of the communities of Kilkenny City, is only here because of what has gone before it – the pioneers of radio broadcasting in Kilkenny.”
