Radio Milinda was the first

pirate radio Pirate radio is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license, whether an invalid license or no license at all. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are rec ...

station in Ireland to be raided by Gardaí and prosecuted. On Sunday, 17 December 1972 almost 100 Gardaí raided the station at 5 North Gloucester Place, Dublin (better known as The Diamond). Seven people were arrested and taken to Store Street police station, where they were later fined £2. The equipment and all records and tapes were confiscated.

History

Radio Milinda was originally the brain-child of Jimmy McCabe who built the guts of the transmitter. The Name "Milinda" which should have been "Melinda", was taken from the 1967 song "Come Away Melinda" as sung by

Tim Rose Timothy Alan Patrick Rose (September 23, 1940 – September 24, 2002) (unofficial website by long-term correspondent of Rose's) was an American singer and songwriter who spent much of his life in London, England, and had more success in E ...

. The station first began test transmissions early on in 1972 from the upstairs of a youth club in Dublin 1. with a very small transmitter. Ger Wallace designed the Big Transmitter. Jimmy McCabe constructed it in a biscuit tin and the chassis of a broken E.C.G. machine. The aerial was strung from the roof of the tenements in Summerhill to the roof of the tenements in Sean Mc Dermott Street "No Mean Feat" (5 Stories High). It was long with a tap at . It came into the station via the roof of 5 North Gloucester Place. The station was set up in two rooms in the basement. These rooms had been unused since the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and were used without alteration other than the cable run for power. There were no windows and the studio ''

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'' was built of bits of orange boxes and whatever else came to hand. The first DJs were Jimmy Lynch, Jimmy McCabe (McCabe's Country) and Richie Kearns. They were later joined by Michael Lynch, Declan Meehan and Mark Storey and on one or two occasions by Fran Gleeson. Although it has been stated that the power output was of 50 Watts, Radio Milinda had QSLs from

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and other locations in the United Kingdom. Radio Milinda became a member of B.I.R.M. Brighton Independent Radio Movement, an organisation who tried to legalise the then pirate radio scene.

References and sources

;Notes ;Bibliography *Radio Radio, Peter Mulryan, Border Line Publications, {{ISBN, 1-870300-03-3

External links

Radio Milinda History PageListen Online
1972 establishments in Ireland 1972 disestablishments in Ireland Pirate radio stations in Ireland Organisations based in Dublin (city) Radio stations established in 1972 Radio stations disestablished in 1972 Defunct radio stations in the Republic of Ireland