Irish radio: a listener's guide
Ireland is a small country with a big love of radio. Talk, sport and traditional music fill the airwaves, and a surprising share of people still start their day with the radio on.
Station counts updated October 29, 2026
RTÉ: the public broadcaster
Irish radio began in 1926 with the station 2RN in Dublin. Its successor, RTÉ (Raidió Teilifís Éireann), runs the national public networks:
- RTÉ Radio 1 — news, current affairs, documentaries and live sport, including Gaelic football and hurling. Its morning programmes are among the most listened-to in the country.
- RTÉ 2FM — pop and new music for a younger audience.
- RTÉ lyric fm — classical music, jazz and film scores. See our classical radio guide.
- RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta — broadcasting in Irish since 1972, mainly for the Gaeltacht regions where Irish is spoken every day.
The pirate radio years
In the 1970s and 1980s, dozens of unlicensed 'pirate' stations broadcast across Ireland, especially in Dublin, and many became hugely popular with listeners who wanted more pop and rock than the national broadcaster played. A 1988 law introduced licensed commercial radio, and most pirates closed down at the end of that year. Many of the presenters who started on pirate radio went on to become well-known voices on the new licensed stations.
Commercial and local radio
Today, national commercial stations such as Today FM and the talk station Newstalk sit alongside dozens of local and regional stations, one for almost every county. Local radio is especially strong outside Dublin, where it carries death notices, farming news, local sport and phone-in shows that are a real part of community life. Ireland also has many community stations and stations broadcasting in Irish in Dublin and other cities.
What you'll hear
- Traditional Irish music — fiddles, tin whistles, uilleann pipes and bodhrán, on dedicated programmes and Irish-language stations.
- Gaelic games — live commentary on Gaelic football and hurling, especially during the summer championships.
- Irish rock and pop — Ireland has produced many internationally famous bands and singers, and their music is everywhere on Irish radio.
- Country and Irish — a mix of country music and Irish ballads with a big following, especially in rural areas. See our country music radio guide.
Listening to Ireland on AURIDEI
- Open Ireland on the globe → · 53 stations live on AURIDEI The biggest cluster is around Dublin, with more stations in Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford.
- Ireland is five hours ahead of New York for most of the year. Breakfast shows in Dublin air in the early hours of the US morning.
- Try voice search: say "Dublin radio" or "music from Ireland".
- For radio across the Irish Sea, read our UK radio guide.
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