Chapter 1: What explosive actions defined Eamon Cook's early years?
In the summer of 1952, a 15-year-old boy in Dublin discovered he could spark an explosion by mixing three cheap ingredients from a local chemist. After a week of practice, he prepared a pipe bomb using an old bike frame and hid it in nearby waste ground.
Then, one evening, this 15-year-old and two friends snuck into Glasnevin Cemetery on Dublin's north side, forced the lock on the O'Connell Tower in the graveyard, went inside, and a boy lit a candle to his creation. Just before midnight, Garthy arrived to investigate reports of a light in the 180-foot-tall tower. As they reached the gate, the bomb detonated, shattering the tower's windows.
The 15-year-old mastermind behind this explosion was Eamon Cook. He already had a criminal record by then, and Eamon Cook was about to grow up to be a very, very dangerous man. I'm Peter Mulrhyne. From RTE Documentary on 1, this is Pirate Predator. Episode 1, The Electrician. This story started for me in 1981, when I was 19 years old.
I was going to write a book about one of the coolest underground things in Ireland at the time. The pirate radio scene began back in the 1960s, when only one radio station was allowed broadcast in Ireland, Radio Eireann. Which was fine if you wanted to listen to news, poetry or programmes intended for, well, anyone over the age of 60, really. But if you were young, like me...
and wanted to listen to pop music or anything remotely cool or in fashion, you tuned in to illegal radio stations. They played music that young people actually wanted to hear. And that is what led 19-year-old me to drive my Honda 50 to the door of the biggest pirate radio station in Ireland.
Radio Dublin.
And the man who ran that station was Eamon Cook, a shabby little man who smelled of the Rothman cigarettes he constantly smoked. The trail was blazed by Radio Dublin, run by Eamon Cook from a terraced house in Inchicore. Eamon Cook was one of the original pirates. Now he's up the mast again with his eye on a prize. Back then, he was revered by many as a kind of folk cult hero, the radio rebel.
In the meantime, by continuing to broadcast, he's facing the possibility of fines of up to £20,000 and or two years in prison.
But there was a darkness behind Cook, or Captain Cook, as he liked to be called. So that all the little secrets in my past are no longer a secret. Eamon Cook, as it turned out, had many secrets and many victims.
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Chapter 2: How did Eamon Cook become involved in Dublin's pirate radio scene?
He does remember Helena's father, his grandfather, who died in 1961.
He was butchering opposite the Black Line down in Chikora. He had a half dozen shops there. He owned a few properties.
But he ran for the Senate and everything, I think, you know, and he had the biggest single collection award for crystal in Ireland. Helena's father was a rich man, something Eamon Cook must have been aware of. I was married, actually, in 1961. Not too sure just what age I was then. There you are. But less than three years later, Cook's marriage to Helena ended.
My wife died on the unfortunate day of my heart attack in 1965. We know little about Helena's life, but we're going to learn something about her death, because the coroner held an inquest, and we found a copy in the National Archives.
Sudden death of Mrs. Helena Cook, 27 years, housewife. Eamon Cook, 29 years, electrician, Starsfield Road in Shakur, informed the sergeant that he woke up about 6am on the 3rd of April 1965 and missed his wife from the bed. He went downstairs and found her deceased, lying in a collapsed state in the kitchen. She appeared to be getting a cup of tea ready as the electric kettle was plugged in.
Helena was identified by Cook's father. Deceased was in good health and did not complain of any serious illness. They had no family and were married for the past three years.
Helena's inquest noted her remains bore no visible marks, except slight colouration around her face and neck. Her post-mortem said, Helena's nephew says some of their family have always harboured doubts about Helena's death. Because the story Cook told them was very different to what he told Gardaí.
But we were told that I think she had a large landing area and she was ironing the clothes there, you know. And she had some mishap or a fall and she fell down the stairs and she broke her neck.
But she died anyway, you know. This story of Helena falling down the stairs and breaking her neck... It's not what it says in the coroner's report, but it is the story Cook told Helena's family.
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Chapter 3: What criminal activities marked Eamon Cook's teenage years?
If you know anything about Eamon Cook... please contact us in confidence at documentaries at rte.ie or you can leave an anonymous tip on rte.ie forward slash pirate predator. Some people did connect pieces of wire to their radios and ran them out the back garden just to pick us up. Your support will really help other listeners discover Pirate Predator.
So please consider telling your friends about the series, share it on your social media, or leave a positive comment or rating wherever you listen. Pirate Predator is narrated and produced by me, Peter Mulrhyan.
Together with me, Nicolene Greer.
And me, Seanna McGreevy. And me, Liam O'Brien.
The music is composed and performed by me, Alma Kelleher, with Steve Carolyn on guitars.
And sound design is by me, Damien Chanel. Readings in this episode were by Alan Torney, Michael Cahill and Lisa Marie Berry. And special thanks to Pirate.ie for the use of archive audio. If you've been affected by any issues raised in this episode, please visit rte.ie forward slash helplines. Until next time, thanks for listening.
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