Analysis: History was made on November 14th 1925 when Ireland's first radio transmissions crackled into life
This week 100 years ago, Dublin’s Mansion House played host to the Wireless Exhibition, a showcase of the technology that promised to transform Ireland’s soundscape. The event was opened on November 11th by Minister for Posts and Telegraphs J.J. Walsh, a proud Cork man and former Postmaster General. He urged citizens to get behind the new broadcasting venture, appealing for support rather than "destructive criticism", saying "any kind of Irish station is better than no station at all."
Just three days later, on November 14th at 6.45pm, history was made as Ireland’s first test transmissions crackled to life. The voice of Séamus Hughes carried across the airwaves, uttering words that would forever mark the dawn of Irish broadcasting: "Sé seo stáisiún 2RN Baile Átha Cliath ag triail" ("This is 2RN Dublin Testing.")
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From RTÉ Archives, Brian O'Connell reports for RTÉ News in 1986 on an exhibition of photographs, original recordings and memorabilia to mark 60 years of Irish broadcasting
Hughes was a man of many talents. Fluent in Irish and French, and a former secretary of Cumann na nGaedheal (later Fine Gael), he brought both political experience and cultural passion to his role as the official station announcer,. A northsider by birth, Hughes had joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood in 1911, taken part in the 1913 Lockout and fought under Thomas MacDonagh in Jacob's Factory during the Easter Rising. Arrested and interned in England, he was released in 1917 before joining the new Civil Service.
In 1924, Hughes contested a by-election — losing to future Taoiseach Seán Lemass — but his voice soon found another stage. A well-known tenor, he was the first to publicly perform The Soldier’s Song, penned byPeadar Kearney — the anthem that would become Amhrán na bhFiann. His appointment as 2RN’s announcer even survived a Dáil committee review, despite Bryan Cooper TD's fears about "the immense possibilities of propaganda by means of wireless broadcasting."
The earliest broadcasts also featured a plea for listeners to buy radio licences — arguably the first advertisement ever aired on 2RN. "This is 2RN, the Dublin broadcasting station. That was good, wasn’t it? But we have more treats in store for you, only remember, no licenses, no programme." Government funding of the station depended directly on the number of licences sold, and there was a palpable sense of anxiety that public support would determine 2RN’s fate.
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From RTÉ Archives, speech by Minister for Posts and Telegraphs J.J. Walsh to mark the opening of radio station 6CK in Cork on 26 April 1927. 6CK was the first official radio station in Cork, established as an extension of 2RN, the national station set up in 1926. The station closed in September 1930. (Sound quality is poor)
In November 1925, Walsh formally announced the Civil Service appointments that would run the new station. Seamus Clandillon, a respected inspector at the National Health Insurance Commission and a noted authority on Irish folk music, was named station director. A traditional Irish speaker, Clandillon was passionate about using radio to revive the native language. Often credited with creating the céilí, he brought deep musicality to the role and his wife, the singer Máighréad Ní Annagáin, was frequently called upon to fill the airwaves when needed. Her regular appearances earned her the affectionate nickname, "Máighréad Ní On Again." Dublin-born Vincent O'Brien, musical director and former teacher of both Irish tenor John McCormack and writer James Joyce, completed the core team.
During the test broadcasts, O’Brien and Clandillon performed together to entertain early listeners. An editorial in The Irish Independent captured the sense of optimism: "The Dublin Broadcasting Station will be formally opened within a few weeks, and we believe, and hope, that its influence will be the seeds of a welcome revolution in the social life of Ireland, more especially of rural Ireland."
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From RTÉ DocArchive, Forty Years of Irish Radio with PP Maguire looking at the history of Irish radio, how it was perceived by the public and meets the men and women who helped make it a success. (First broadcast 1966)
Yet not everyone was impressed. As the test transmissions filled Irish skies, some listeners lamented that 2RN was interfering with English broadcasts. One letter-writer to The Irish Independent, signing as "Polyglot," complained: "I, for one, shall not renew my licence if the Dublin wavelength crowds out the English and foreign stations as it did during recent tests."
Another, identifying as "Cats' Whisker," wrote with sharp humour: "I regret that I cannot join in the grand chorus of praise of our new broadcasting station… even for a test performance. Selections from Mauritania fill me with homicidal thoughts." From Cork, a letter signed "Corkonian" described the early broadcasts as "A perfect pandemonium of howls."
Among the engineers who sought to tame this early chaos was another Corkman, William Arnold Beatty. Trained at the School of Wireless Telegraphy on the Mardyke in Cork, Beatty joined 2RN in 1924 as Assistant Engineer under T.J. Monaghan, who had been seconded from the Department of Posts and Telegraphs to oversee the station’s launch. Beatty would go on to manage many of 2RN’s first outside broadcasts and later help establish Ireland’s second station, 6CK, broadcasting from the former Women’s Gaol overlooking Cork city in 1927.
Originally, 2RN was scheduled to begin broadcasting on December 20th, 1925, but delays at the Little Denmark Street studios pushed the official opening to New Year’s Day, 1926. From that moment, radio would become part of the fabric of Irish homes —almost like a friendly piece of furniture!
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From RTÉ Archives, Douglas Hyde, founder of the Gaelic League and later first President of Ireland, officially opens 2RN on January 1st 1926
Playwright Brian Friel would later capture the wonder of those early days in his autobiographical Dancing at Lughnasa, recalling the enchantment of listening to his very own 'Marconi': "My first delight, indeed my awe, at the sheer magic of that radio."
Fianna Fáil’s Patrick J. Little was Ireland’s longest-serving Minister for Posts and Telegraphs and a key force behind the creation of the Radio Éireann Symphony Orchestra, Years later, he reflected that "Irish Broadcasting is the everyday story of the new Ireland, spoken with its own voice.". That voice, vibrant and distinct, still resonates today.
The author is the organiser of From Broadcast to Podcast: 100 Years of Irish Radio conference to be held on January 29th and 30th at the Aula Maxima, UCC, Cork.
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The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
