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Summer evening requests on Radio Vera

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Summer evening requests on Radio Vera
Radio Vera flyer from Anoraks Ireland Collection.

Radio Vera (1987-1988) was one of many stations broadcasting from Limerick during the pirate era. Its roots were in another Limerick pirate, Radio Munster, and both pirates shared a premises in the city centre. On air for a little over a year, Radio Vera aimed at younger listeners whereas Radio Munster concentrated on an older demographic. It claimed to be reaching a large area of the southwest of Ireland on FM.

This recording of Radio Vera was made in the summer of 1988 and features an evening show of chart music and requests presented by Peter Gregory, who worked previously on West Country Radio in Abbeyfeale, west Co. Limerick. There are news headlines, a rock trivia slot and adverts for local business along with an advertising promo featuring the voice of station founder Will Rogers (aka Bernard Rooney).

Summer evening requests on Radio Vera
Original cassette inlay from Anoraks Ireland Collection.

The tape was made from 97.7 FM from 1853-1940 on Tuesday 21st June 1988 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.

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Late night requests on Radio Vera from Limerick

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Late night requests on Radio Vera from Limerick
Radio Vera compliments slip (Anoraks Ireland Collection).

Radio Vera was a Limerick station broadcasting towards the end of the 1980s pirate era. Launched in late 1987, it was linked to an existing city station, Radio Munster with which it shared a building in William Street. Radio Vera aimed its programmes at the 15-34 age cohort, featuring pop music, chat, news, sports and local interviews. It claimed to be one of the few Limerick stations available over a 50-mile radius around Limerick City and its advertising brochures included maps covering most of the southwest of Ireland. Radio Vera closed at the end of 1988 along with other pirate stations.

Late night requests on Radio Vera from Limerick
Advertising material with claimed coverage map (Anoraks Ireland Collection).

This tape was made from 97.7 FM on 14th November 1988 from 2230-2307 and features Jeff Graham with a late-night requests show. News at the top of the hour is read by Edwina and adverts cover Limerick and north Kerry. The recording is of fair reception quality as it was made outside the core broadcasting area. We thank John Breslin for the donation.  

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Interview: Liam Byrne – the Limerick Pirates

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Interview: Liam Byrne - the Limerick Pirates
Hits 954 flyer courtesy of Ger Sweeney.

In this interview, John Walsh visited Limerick and spoke with anorak Liam Byrne who has all the details on the old Limerick pirate radio scene from the late 1970s to the pirate Radio Limerick One in the 1990s and beyond. This interview was first broadcast on Wireless on Flirt FM.