[3] Before he founded Radio Caroline, O'Rahilly started training in method acting in London, frequented nightclubs and became acquainted with such entertainment industry figures as Giorgio Gomelsky and Simon Dee.

[2] He then ran a night club, the Scene, off Great Windmill Street in Soho, London, where in 1963 the Rolling Stones played, amongst others including Zoot Money and Chris Farlowe.

[2] He tried to persuade radio stations to play a promotional acetate record by Georgie Fame, a practice that was almost unheard of at the time.

He then tried to get it played on Radio Luxembourg and again found that the shows were "owned" by major labels EMI, Decca, Pye and Philips.

[8] Broadcasts ceased in 1968, the ships' operations having been hampered by UK legislation in the previous year, which also saw new competition from the BBC's Radio 1.

[8] In 1966, O'Rahilly gave businessman Phil Solomon a share in Radio Caroline, and with him set up Major Minor Records, whose acts including The Dubliners and David McWilliams were then promoted by the station.

O'Rahilly was inducted into the Hall Of Fame at the PPI Radio Awards, held at the Lyrath Hotel, Kilkenny, Ireland, on 12 October 2012.

[11][12] In 2012, O'Rahilly was diagnosed with vascular dementia and returned to live in County Louth, Ireland, in sight of the port of Greenore where Radio Caroline was "born" in the 1960s.