“A Predator in Plain Sight”: New true-crime podcast reveals definitive story of pirate radio DJ and abuser Eamon Cooke
Monday, 11 May 2026 12:07
30/3/’07 File photo of Eamon Cooke see court copy.
EAMON COOKE OF RADIO DUBLIN PICTURED AT THE STATION’S STUDIO IN CLONDALKIN…SEE COPY….PICTURE COLIN KEEGAN, COLLINS, DUBLIN.
Pirate Predator uncovers new information from victims and survivors of abuse on how Cooke covered up crimes
A new RTÉ true-crime podcast Pirate Predator drops today, revealing fresh evidence in the case of pirate radio DJ Eamon Cooke, now known as one of Ireland’s most prolific child sexual abusers. The series, which also airs from Sunday on RTÉ Radio 1, uncovers new information from victims and survivors of abuse demonstrating how Cooke got away with his crimes. It also contains interviews with some of those involved in bringing Cooke to justice that reveal how, across several decades, he appeared to be untouchable.
Convicted in 2007 and sentenced to 10 years in prison, Cooke – who died in 2016 – used his status in the late 1970s and 1980s as the head of popular pirate radio station Radio Dublin to prey on young children. Allegations and claims about Cooke were in the public domain for decades before he was finally convicted. Running the station from his house in Inchicore in Dublin, “Captain Cooke” was known as an underground folk figure, but he used his house and garage to lure children in, building their trust, abusing them – even while the station was on air – and then threatening them into silence.
The new podcast – from the RTÉ Doc on One team who brought you the award-winning podcasts First Conviction, Runaway Joe, and Stolen Sister among others – also examines the alleged connections between Cooke and the disappearance of Philip Cairns in Rathfarnham in Dublin in 1986, one of Ireland’s most well-known and unsolved missing persons cases.
The full story of Eamon Cooke’s reign of terror is brought to life in Pirate Predator, with some of the victims and survivors of abuse telling their stories. The series also examines Cooke’s interactions with other known abusers at the time, including Jimmy Savile.
Writer and narrator Peter Mulryan says: “I’ve wanted to make this series for a long time to understand why a man who appears to have been one of Ireland’s most prolific abusers got away with it for so long. Cooke used Radio Dublin to get access to children. He was a predator in plain sight, Ireland’s Jimmy Savile, and his reign of abuse went on for decades, right under everyone’s noses.”
Pirate Predator drops today, Monday 11 May, with each episode dropping weekly on Mondays. Find it on RTÉ Radio Player or wherever you get your podcasts.
The series also airs Sundays at 7.30pm on RTÉ Radio 1, starting Sunday 17 May.
