Pirate radio in the United Kingdom Caroline and Radio London started to broadcast on medium wave to the UK from offshore ships or disused sea forts. At the time, these stations were not illegal because they were broadcasting from international waters. The stations were set up by entrepreneurs and music enthusiasts to meet the growing demand for pop and rock music, which was not catered for by the legal BBC Radio services. The first British pirate radio station was Radio Caroline, which was launched by Irish music entrepreneur Ronan O'Rahilly, and started broadcasting from a ship off the Essex coast in 1964. By 1967 ten pirate
Irish pirate radio in Arbour Hill Military Detention Barracks after 55 days protesting his arrest for operating a pro IRA pirate radio station. Whilst the number of recorded pirate radio stations was in the hundreds, only a few have been notable enough to be remembered. Pirate radio reached its height of popularity in Ireland in the 1980s after UK entrepreneurs Robbie Robertson and Chris Cary launched Sunshine Radio and Radio Nova in Dublin. They were soon joined by Irish business people and entrepreneurs. It was commercial music radio at a time when state broadcaster RTE struggled to capture the youth market. This was