Big L Radio Limerick
Updated 15th May 2014
As more and more DJ’s came into the fold, there seemed to be no stopping Big L Radio Limerick’s Growth. By the end of 1979 it was virtually a 24 hour radio station, pending the opening of RTE’s 2nd ‘pop’ station, with good old Larry Gogan in the top spot, nothing changed there then! But they still couldn’t broadcast beyond midnight and had no independent news service at his time. They even tried having a “good news” slot only. I think they realized like the rest of us that it’s a nasty world out there, take away the (Bad) everyday news and your left with……………..not a lot.
Mind you Big L Radio Limerick had no news service at all! This had to change. But not just yet. I thought we could survive without a news service ‘interfering’ with the music output.
I put in a couple of more trips to the UK for transmitter ‘bits’ before the end of the year through the now frequented rat run through Eniskillen running the gauntlet of both the British Army patrols and the IRA, never really thought about the danger, I just like driving, and still do. The cars used on this run over the years were :-
Lancia Beta
Lancia Beta,……..1979
I had two of these cars. they were severely prone to rusting and on more than one occasion were known to have had bits falling off particularly engines! only thing I ever lost was the front bumper and the number plate. pulled by the guards for having two different Number plates….embarrassing or what.
Peugot 604
Peugot 604 (my favourite cruise animal)……..1980-82, had three of these models. all automatics, dream to drive and very comfortable over long distances, only got 22 mpg. Nobody seemed to keep spares for them though. The third one was just kept for ‘bits’, doors and windscreens etc. the engines lasted though
Fiat 1500
Fiat 1500 (My Fathers car)
who was still running Arena in Askeaton up to 1979 had to borrow this once, to go to the Midlands,(Birmingham) I was trying to track down some of my old Mining engineering friends, as well as doing something for my Father, can’t remember what though. Later he brought over his 2 door White Ford Fairlane. This replaced The Blue Fairlane used at Red Wings
Datsun Laurel………………………1982-1983 Horrible car,
Datsun Laurel
bounced all over the place, was big and clumsy, reasonably fast, but not something you would consider for a long trip. For it’s size returned about 25-28 Mpg, not bad for a ‘Big’ car, but generally not a good ride.Given to Frank Cavanagh’s Wife Nora, as a runaround after I left for England. She managed to clock up over a £1,000 in parking fines, but left the car registered to me!
Iveco Z100 Outside Broadcast Unit
Iveco Z100 Van 1981-1985.This one bought from new from Pat O’mara motors at Ballysimon, replaced the transit Box Van,and became Big L Radio Limericks OBU. Originally white , got it resprayed for £180. The White stripe copied from an American Ford Ecoline I liked the look of. For it’s size returned 22-25 mpg but the front screen kept fracturing. Had three screens replaced in all.
Datsun 180B………………..1980, briefly before being impounded at
Datsun 180B
Mary St Garda Barracks Limerick for being used on English registration plates. This was all I got from my father from the sale of Arena. It was a parting gift from Him after the sale of Arena to the Sheehan Brothers for £37.500
Triumph GT6 …………………1984-early 1985
Triumph GT6
used whilst down in Kerry working on Rocky103. Got stolen once in Tralee whilst staying overnight with a friend, returned the following morning un-harmed. PJ O’neil, (Rocky 103 DJ) was probably behind it, I reciprocated many times,it was the easiest car in the world to nick. Abandoned in New Ross after rear bearing failure.had to get a lift to the Ferry to get back to England. Never reclaimed the car! still there maybe? here’s PJ and Mike Dean talking about me (Animal), on air
Alfasud Coup……………….most of 1985
Alpha Romeo Alfasud Coupé
This Alpha-Romeo replaced the Triumph for a few months before I bought an XJ6 in St. Clears,Wales Not a bad car but I just didn’t like it, economical though about 32MPg ,used at Banna Beach for the Horizon Radio transmitters and hardware, crashed at the main road junction from Ardfert to Banna Beach).
Jaguar XJ6
The XJ6 never came to Ireland,(lowered suspension), I would have lost the exhaust on the road from Cavan to Athlone, the road was very bumpy, and at high speed……..? Anyway was in the garage at Archway North London,more than on the road, great looking car, easy to drive, but expensive to run, had 2 new petrol tanks before the garage owner convinced me to take his Alpha Romeo GT6 in part exchange.
Alpha Romeo GT6
I reluctantly agreed as I had to get to Ireland, but thought it was too similar to the Alfasud. Was I wrong or what, the fastest car I have ever owned, the police pulled me over the same day I had bought it on my way up to Stranraer Ferry doing 123mph outside Preston in a convoy I had joined just past Birmingham on the M6. The rest of the ‘convoy’ passed sheepeeshly me by at a very conservative 70 Mph, much to the grins of the Police who said they had enjoyed the ‘chase’ and let me go,This Time,promising to keep an eye out for me in the future, they’re not all bad! Had a good year and a half without any expense,(1 Set of Spark Plugs),before I crashed near Ardfert after a visit to Mick Flaherty’s Pub to pick up an advertising cheque.
You might think these trips were extravagant, but bear in mind the cost of fuel was just 16 shillings a GALLON then, that relates to 3 shillings per litre not that anybody knew what they were in those days.(15cents per litre, against todays price of €1.47). Cost of fuel to London and back around £25 + ferry about £40!
Soon there didn’t seem to be enough hours in the day to play all the music that the listeners wanted to hear. One by one new programs were introduced along with the new DJ’s and prior to starting the news service the Sports show arrived following an introduction to Tommy Hines who started the first show exactly where John ‘the Man’ Frawley had sat, looking for the Breakfast show on his terms, and through a kind reader of this epistle it turns out the ‘cheque’ for £2,000 may have come from the Madden Family, who made such a mess of broadcasting in Limerick after buying out Limerick Radio ONE in the 90’s, courtesy of Ger Madden, who doesn’t merit a mention on this or any other page.
Tommy soon gathered a talented sports team for Big L Radio Limerick, and Hayman managed to get sponsorship for the team from Stiks the premier snooker hall in Limerick who had recently hosted a great night for all snooker fans with Hurricane Higgins as the main attraction, what a night! The current charts from that time had a very interesting mix everything from the Stones and “Miss You”, to the Smurfs, not forgetting Guy Marks and his hit “Loving You Has Made Me Bananas” . Also in the mix for the year were some tracks you don’t here of too often these days. Andrew Gold
and “Never Let Her Slip Away” was a favourite of Christine’s as I remember, whilst Plastic Bertrand and “Cá Plan Pour Moi” clocked up more than a few requests? Boney M did very well especially with the Christmas Hit of 1978 “Mary’s Boy Child”,which John ‘the Man’ Frawley played the ass off.
I had met John many years before, not that he remembered, when he was playing with Tommy Drennan’s Monarch Showband at the Silver Slipper Ballroom in Kenmare for “La Fruits de la Mer” annual fishing contest in 1967, which my Father brought every member of the family over for a few years running to enjoy the ‘fruits’ of the river. He was always immensely popular with locals and competitors alike, who came from as far away as Australia and Hong Kong to take part in the Competition. A particular good friend was the ‘Commodore’ who controlled the Event in Kenmare, who would encourage my Father to sing the Yorkshireman’s anthem “Ilkla Moor Baht ‘at or On Ilkla Moor bar tat (Standard English: On Ilkley Moor without your hat)” which of course my father would oblige after a couple (or more) whiskeys, to appreciative applause. Despite having garages in England at Stibbington,
Stibbington Forecourt looking North 1959
Hardwick
Hardwick Service Station Looking West 1960
and later Red Wings at Alconbury, my Father had been intent on having another in Ireland.
I think these trips were undertaken to soften us up to owning a Garage in Ireland and enjoying the slow pace of life here, despite being sternly advised against any such undertaking by Mary’s (Jacks wife, my Mother), Uncle Bernie Kavanagh in Urlingford. Uncle Bernie ran the Kavanagh
Redwings Looking North with my Ford Zephyr (look closely for Pegasus on the drivers door) 1965
‘Empire’ and was dead against my Father arriving in Ireland. On a trip in 1954 Jack & Mary(I was left behind that year on my Mum’s sister Kate’s farm in Lincolnshire, packaged off from King’s Cross Station with My Bike and my name on a lable, bit like a war refugee),
Uncle Bernie showed my parent’s, all their (The Kavanagh’s), property
Uncle Bernie & Joan outside their Shop(Headquarters) in Urlingford
in Urlingford relating to them the woes of running a Garage in Ireland. In one Garage was an entire fleet of Brand new cars and Vans that only came out on Sundays to meet the Mail Ferries from England, from which they delivered the newspapers all over Ireland, returning to Urlingford in the wee small hours of Monday morning to be serviced and locked up till the following Sunday. At another garage recently aquired at the other end of the village(Urlingford), a large hole was being prepared for fuel tanks. My Father retold the story to me that there must have bee at least 40 men working their socks of, twenty feet down in this mud and granite hole. On enquiring my father said to Bernie things must be good if you’re paying all these men to work so hard for you?
Kavanagh’s Garage Urlingford around 1954
“Paying” says uncle Bernie? “They get a good meal on Sundays, and are very grateful for it” ……….ummmhh enough said, My Father was still intent on coming to Ireland, and eventually bought a 2.1 acre site (with planning permission),next to the GAA pitch in Askeaton Co. Limerick off of Michael Sheehy for £2,100 late in 1969. My mother named the site ‘Arena’ and building commenced in ernest in 1970/71. I was to run the Garage/ Restaurant until my Father was able to come over after
Arena Forecourt with dad standing on the corner with his usual cup of tea 1976,White Fairlane behind the 2 Morris Minor’s.
deciding what to do with his own little ‘Empire’ in the UK. After more than a year and with my family installed in rented accommodation just outside the Village, along came “Bloody Sunday”,in January 1972, at which point my then Wife freaked out and wanted to return home to Cambridgeshire with our two girls, I was going to follow as soon as my Father could arrange someone to take over. That never was to happen, I fell in Love with a local girl and moved into Limerick, where ‘the action’ was, although disco’s were very much for the ‘kids’ in those days.
Arena Forecourt looking Northwest 1976.
There is much more to this little episode in my life and maybe I’ll fill you in at a later stage, but I just needed to explain why and how I landed in Ireland.
Arena in Askeaton with my Father now running the Garage/Restaurant was to be key in keeping the station,Big L Radio Limerick, running with the impending fuel shortage approaching due to the unrest in the Middle East, Peter could no longer get fuel in Co. Cork, irrespective of the cost, to make the trip to Limerick. Despite my Father being estranged from me at the time, I went cap in hand to ask for fuel in a five gallon ‘jerry can’ (Highly irregular), to help my staff out. He obliged and considered our feud to be more or less buried , once he started supplying the fuel, not only for Peter but also for my own transport. But 1978 had yet to run it’s course and the events in 1979 we’re even more devastating.
Updated 15th May 2014