2RN was the first radio broadcasting station in the Irish Free State. It began broadcasting on 1 January 1926 and continued until 1933, when it was succeeded by Radio Athlone (later Radio Éireann). The station was run by the Irish Post Office, under the Department of Posts and Telegraphs. Since 2013 RTÉ use the name as the identity of their broadcasting network, see 2RN (RTÉ Networks).
Studios and wavelengths
The studio for 2RN was originally located at Little Denmark Street, off Henry Street in Dublin, moving to the nearby GPO building in 1928.
The 1.5 Kilowatt Marconi transmitter was located at McKee Barracks, near the Phoenix Park.
The station initially broadcast on 380 metres (790 kHz), although the choice of this wavelength led to complaints from members of the public as, due to the limitations of the receiver technology of the time, transmissions led to interference to and by other stations, especially 6BM in Bournemouth and the Hamburg radio station.
Reception of the station for many Irish listeners outside Dublin was problematic, although even at the time of the inception of the station, there were plans for a high-power transmitter to serve the whole country. In 1927 the Cork broadcasting station 6CK was established, which relayed many of 2RN's programmes, as well as contributing programmes to the network.
Initially the station broadcast three hours a night, from 19:30 to 22:30, with only a two-hour broadcast on Sunday nights.