The Irish 950 has a long and rich history in the greater Boston area.
The Irish Hit Parade began its historic run on radio station WRYT (950 AM) in September 1967. At its beginning, the show was called “The Irish Hour” because it was a one-hour block of Irish music initially hosted by a gentleman named Pat McDonough. In time, “The Irish Hour” had morphed into the “John Latchford Show,” and had expanded to occupy a significant portion of the broadcast day each Saturday.
Latchford’s enthusiastic air presence, coupled with his knowledge of traditional and popular Irish music provided singular and infectious content for Irish and Irish-American music enthusiasts. The result was a marvelous match for a thirsty “Boston Irish” listening audience.
The ongoing success of Irish programming led to the birth of “The Irish Hit Parade.” Paul Sullivan became a host. He had worked at the station – and on the program – as a commercial producer and announcer since 1977. When Latchford retired in 1986, Sullivan moved to the early Saturday daypart, and the personable Matt O’Donnell became the show’s late-day personality. Paul Sullivan and Matt O’Donnell continue to present the Saturday Irish Hit Parade to this very day, with a remarkable and historic tenure of over seventy broadcasting years between them!
In time, the footprint of The Irish 950 kept growing. Seamus Mulligan, an icon in Greater Boston’s Irish-American community, brought his internationally-heralded “A Feast of Irish Music” to WROL’s Sunday schedule.
We are proud to be the only Irish radio station of its kind in the United States offering traditional Irish music and entertainment.