Duffy's Circus - The Early Years

written by J.P. Browne

The Duffy Family along with the Fossett’s are probably the best-known circus family in Ireland having being on the road in Ireland since 1891 in one reiteration or another. The Duffy dynasty started with Patrick James Duffy, a boot and shoemaker by trade who was born in Dublin in 1797.  Himself and his wife, a woman called Bridget Galy became the first members who started into the circus life when they at some stage joined a circus and went on the road with them.

Patrick James and his wife Bridget had two boys. Christopher born in 1848 and John born in 1853. Both boys were raised in the circus life and trained to be contortionists doing a massively successful balancing-tumbling act that usually got them top billing in whatever circus they were in. At some stage both brothers also got married. Christopher to a lady called Esther Daucher and John to Ann Hallam Sylvester (Silvester) stepdaughter to Jack Silvester, a famous clown back then.

While it was the younger brother John from whom the Irish Circus Dynasty sprang from. Christopher did his part for the Duffy name too. Himself and his wife had five children two of whom we know for certain entered the circus trade, George Duffy who became an acrobat and Mary Ann Duffy who became a circus rider (Duffy, 2016a). While Christopher and his descendants went on to spend their lives’ in the circus, it was because of John, the younger brother that we remember and connect the name of Duffy with the circus in Ireland today.

John Duffy the First

As there are numerous John’s in the Duffy Dynasty, I will refer for clarity’s sake to the first John Duffy as John Duffy the First. Of John the First we know very little; like his brother Christopher he was an acrobat. Born in Leeds, Yorkshire in 1853 he was trained by his parents to become an acrobat with him being referred to as 'a remarkable talent' (Duffy, 2016c). Patrick's wife Bridget was also an acrobat although I am not sure if she was trained as a child or became part of the act when marrying him. As for why the two boys became acrobats is sometimes children either showed a particular aptitude to a certain type of circus performance or that the family may have wanted to vary the acts making the family more employable so put their children into a different branch of circus performance. Regardless of the reason Christopher and John both became acrobats specializing in contortionism.

John’s speciality was balancing eleven half-pint glasses on his forehead, whilst passing his body through hoops, a difficult trick that got him plenty of employment in circuses around the world. Himself and Christopher were a double act and most likely would have being for numerous years until breaking up. This again was a normal part of the circus life. Some acts broke up because of personality clashes but usually it was for more mundane reasons like the marriage of one member who must then support his own family or someone being laid up by injury forcing the other person to go out on his own. Regardless of the circumstances, at some stage John accompanied by his wife Annie went solo with John starting a tumbling act to which he was extremely successful. They also began to have children, with their eldest son being called John. John Junior was by his own words a ‘very delicate’ baby. Reared by his maternal grandmother Phillis Silvester he was a sickly child who apparently came close to death on several occasions but thanks to his grandmother’s care and attention he pulled through.

In 1882 John Junior joined his mother and father on the road and began to learn his profession as a circus performer. In 1886 at the age of ten he made his debut in the ring at Manley’s Circus on a ground at Elephant and Castle in London doing a Father and Son Act with John the First (Duffy, 2016b). For this they were paid the princely sum of 35/- a week, which is about £683 sterling in today’s money. With a year’s experience under his belt and obviously a good act, Campbell and Kaley’s Circus took on father and son for the 1887 season at £3 a week (£1,164 in today’s money).

Duffy's Circus Poster (1939)

By 1888 John Junior was now a clown taking part in acts that were known as ‘Free and Easy’ while John the first was a part of a pitching team with a friend of his called Johnny Turner (Duffy, 2016b). Pitching - Sometimes called bunking, is a ground-to-air group act involves propelling a performer into the air to perform single or multiple tricks. There must be one flyer and one base. The base holds hands (crossed) to create a platform for the flyer to stand on before/after the trick. The flyer can go from the floor to the base, or be pitched to another base depending on how many people are in the act. Pitching acts can also involve tumbling, acrobatics and adagio (National Institute of Circus Arts, 2018). At some stage John Junior must have hurt himself doing this act as he had a limp for most of his adult life.

By late 1887 the family had managed to save the sum of £260 (£100,000 in today’s money) and returned to their winter quarters in Hackney Wick, London where John the First built a tumbling show.

Tumbling is the execution of acrobatic movements such as rolls, twists, handsprings, or somersaults on floor mats or on the ground. Unlike most other acts, tumbling does not involve the use of apparatuses making it cheaper to build but still requiring a good amount of space for the performers to do their show.

With the two Johns probably working together as they had their first year and John the First’s wife Annie Duffy a well-known and sought-after contortionist the Duffy’s would have had 2 -3 well-rehearsed and popular acts just from the immediate family. Adding to that John Junior’s other siblings Elizabeth Duffy born 1880 (aerialist) and Phyllis Duffy born circa 1878 who had being trained as a tight rope dancer could have being active at this time or if not soon would have being.

To quote John Junior about his early days “as a tumbling show and between the two of us (John the First) we could do five or six acts, and my sister Phyllis learned to dance the tight rope and my two younger brothers Thomas and James to take part in acrobatics. We travelled around the fairs of England, Scotland and Wales and did very fine business. My father was a great rambler never stopping too long in one place or country; he was a lover of strange faces” (Duffy, 2016b).

Of John Junior’s two brothers James was born in 1884 and Thomas Duffy was born in 1882. So, the two would have being too young to start in the family business right away but they would have been added in sooner rather than later to add another act to the show. Another girl Caroline came along in 1889.

After successfully touring Britain for several years in 1891 the Duffy Family finally came back to Ireland. It had been several decades since the Duffy’s had being in Ireland. All the Duffy’s had been born in Britain in various locales depending on where their show was at the time. As John Junior stated himself many years later ‘In the year of 1891 and I was at the age of 16 my father decided to come to Ireland, to the land of his parents birth, as both his father and mother belong to Domnick Street, Dublin’ (Duffy, 2016b). That his parents both came from Dominick Street explains a lot why his family came into the circus in the first place. Dominick Street in Dublin was well known as a place where performers of all persuasions would stay while in Dublin. With cheap rent, theatres nearby and probably a local bar where people could meet to get news about relatives abroad or the latest places hiring, if Patrick and his wife came from here they probably would have been rubbing elbows with performers of all stripes since they were young. That they decided to utilize their connections to go on the road and see the world if you will could easily have happened.

Regardless of how the Duffy’s first decided to get started in the world of the Circus, by 1891 they were well established with the third generation since Patrick Duffy joined being circus people to their core. 

From 1891 to 1898 the Duffy Circus toured Ireland until 1898 when it left to go start traveling in Scotland. What name they used at the time is unsure with the Anglo-Celt Newspaper calling them “Duffy's Variety Company” in an 1897 article when one of their horses made the news by bolting and crashing into a shop in Ballyconnell, Co. Cavan (Anglo-Celt Newspaper, April 24^th 1897). Regardless of whatever name they used, with a tent and caravans they were for all intents and purposes a Circus. The Duffy Circus spent the next three and a half to four years in Scotland before returning to Ireland for the 1901 season. By this stage John Junior was married to a Scottish lady called ‘Annie’ Mary Ellen White whose family were amusement caterers in Edinburgh.

The Duffy’s came back to Ireland for the touring season of 1902, which was fairly successful for them. The 1902 season was an Irish Circus lover’s dream with the likes of Irish Circus’s such as ‘Lloyd’s Mexican Circus’ and ‘Hanneford’s Canadian Circus’ and foreign circuses over touring from Britain such as ‘Poole and Boscos’ International Circus’.

The Duffy’s also did something which most of the other circuses didn’t do which is come the winter season they pitched up in Belfast and began putting on evening shows. Most other circuses because of the roads not being good would dismiss their contracted performers who usually found work in theatres which put on Christmas Circuses, Pantomimes or Harlequinades all of which were popular back then with the general public. The Duffy’s probably just using family members, renting out the ground and keeping expenses tight were able after the Winter season to in John Junior’s own words ‘purchase two new living carriages, a beautiful new circus and horse tents' (Duffy, 2016b).

This meant that going into the 1903 season the Duffy’s had gone from being a small little family show to one of the bigger circuses in Ireland. The Duffy circus spent the next several years touring Ireland gaining in reputation and name recognition but it wasn’t until the 1906 season that Duffy’s Circus gain national attention for the first time and what a stunning debut it was.

The incident happened in Coalisland in Co. Tyrone where a row took place between a local mill-hand called Jas. E. Bradley (also called James E. Bradley in other articles) and Phyllis Duffy’s husband Arthur Wilson. Bradley was inspecting one of the circus vans, when Arthur Wilson ordered him away. Bradley refused to go, and there was an argument. Apparently, Bradley “an alleged pugilist” (Duffy, 2016b) was not happy to leave it at just words being thrown and proceeded to attack Arthur Wilson. Unfortunately for the aspirational world champion he came off the worse in this particular altercation and was given “the best hammering he ever got”. 

The incident did not end there however. Local mill hands hearing one of their own had being beaten. That the beating had being given by an outsider no less and an English one at that ‘started booing and shouting that we would not get out of the town with our lives and threatened to wreck the show’ (Duffy, 2016b). One can imagine that the alleged pugilist himself didn’t help anything by telling a story of how he was attacked for no good reason and was in fact on his way to church to say a few prayers for starving orphans.

Regardless of who was in the wrong or not, a mob had gathered that night to exact revenge on the Circus. According to the Sunday Independent, which was one of the many newspapers that covered the incident under the headline ‘Circus Attack’. What happened was the following “when the performance was about to commence quite a large number of people – several hundreds in fact – had gathered around the tents and a hostile demonstration was made. Stones and bricks were thrown, and matters assumed such a serious aspect that those in charge of the circus decided to take measures to defend themselves” (Sunday Independent, October 14^th 1906).

How the Duffy’s defended themselves was in the following manner. “When we opened that night we had about 30 horses tied up inside the tent near the entrance, part of our programme that season happened to be a big spectacle entitled the Bear and Sentry and we had plenty of swords, bayonets, rifles and “Props”.  My father gave everyone orders to stand by and if we saw the “roughs” advancing we were to defend ourselves and charging on horseback and on foot we had to claim whatever we could and follow up” (Duffy, 2016b).

Needless to say the roughs did advance leading to “some nine or ten of the performers mounted their horses and armed with revolvers and swords, swept towards the crowd which, however maintained the attack with vigour and determination. In the meantime the police had apprised of what was happening and a party of men arrived on the scene as quietly as possible” (Sunday Independent, October 14^th 1906).

The newspapers as you can imagine had a field day with the story. Some of the headlines from the incident were the following:

- Circus Attack!

- The Battle of Coalisland

- Extraordinary Melee in a Tyrone Village

- Clown as Field Marshal

What we can discern from the inquest after was the police had to baton charge the crowd who refused to disperse with three of the police, Sergeant M’llkenny and Constables Kelly and Bell receiving slight injuries. The Duffy’s then charged the crowd on horseback also with wooden batons. Thankfully it seems someone had tipped off the local Reverend, Father Brown who came on the scene and got both parties to stand down.

The inquest of the event seems to have been as entertaining as the actual event.

The recent “pitched battle” between a Coalisland crowd and some employee of Duffy’s travelling circus, formed the subject of a magisterial inquiry at Stewartstown on Wednesday, when 25 men from the district were charged with having been member of a disorderly crowd on the occasion and called upon to show cause why they should not be bound to the peace.  There were nine magistrates on the bench, and the little courthouse was crowded to suffocation” (Sunday Independent, November 11^th 1906).

Below is the following transcript with Constable Hogan giving evidence and a Mr. Harris for the defense questioning him.

Mr. Harris: Didn’t you see Duffy’s men mounted on horses and charging like the Light Brigade at Balaclava? (great laughter)

Constable Hogan: They were on horses.

Mr. Harris: Had they drawn swords? 

Constable Hogan: No.

Mr. Harris: Had they long pole-sticks?

Constable Hogan: They had sticks.

Mr. Harris: Did you see the clown like a Field Marshall on horseback? (roars of laughter)

Constable Hogan: Oh yes, I saw the clown on horseback.

Mr. Harris: How was he dressed?

Constable Hogan: Well, he was in ordinary clothes at that time.

Mr. Harris: How many horse were there?

Constable Hogan: About six.

Mr. Harris: Hadn’t the Constabulary to “book it” when the cavalry charged?

Constable Hogan: Yes they had to get out of the way.

Mr. Harris: Actually the police had to clear out for these men galloping through the streets of Coalisland. Why were they galloping?

Constable Hogan: To put away the crowd.

Mr. Harris: Didn’t they ask the permission of the sergeant to charge?

Constable Hogan: Yes, he prevented them several times.

Mr. Harris: And not withstanding that pretext they persisted in charging?

Constable Hogan: They did.

Mr. Harris: Didn’t they do far more harm than these respectable young people before the Court?

Constable Hogan: There was little harm done by either side.

Mr. Harris: Did you hear the order for the cavalry to mount?

Constable Hogan: I heard them shouting for the horses.

Mr. Harris: And then there was the gallant charge of the Light Brigade (laughter)

Constable: I saw them on the horses.

Sergeant M’Ellinney giving evidence. Mr. Corr for the defence.

Mr. Corr: I believe finally you had to call in the clergy (laughter). You had never been in war before sergeant?

Sgt. M’Ellinney: I have been in stone-throwing in my time (laughter).

Mr. Corr: You didn’t lose your head?

Sgt. M’Ellinney: Well, no. (rubs head) I believe not. I have it yet.

All the defendants were discharged. As for Duffy’s Circus they left Coalisland the next day for Cookstown were they were given a warm reception. Curiosity about the event obviously winning out over any local hostility that might have been festering. To quote the old adage ‘any publicity is good publicity’ and gave the Duffy Circus name a boost with the general public.

The Duffy’s had apart from the Circus tents and caravans built a portable theatre which could be erected quickly during the Winter Season and because of this innovation they had a steady stream of income coming into the business all year round unlike other Circus Families. This meant they were able to pay for top acts from the Continent such as ‘Rollo the King of the High Rope’ who was their headliner one season as well as several large wild animal acts, which were a big hit with the public.

Tragically in 1909 at the age of just 56, John Duffy the First died of natural causes with his wife Annie taking his place. Annie Duffy was now the head of the Duffy Family Circus in familial and business circles. John Duffy Jr. tells of his loss, “This was our most sorrowful season having the misfortune to lose our dear father who passed away in the Cottage Hospital at Drogheda on October 4, 1909.  It was a sad blow to all our family.  A good father to all of us, he was highly respected by all who knew him wherever he went.  So ended this forlorn year of 1909” (Duffy, 2016b).

Annie Duffy

While the loss of John Duffy the First must have being a blow, the circus itself didn’t seem to have missed a beat under the management of Annie Duffy. The Connacht Tribune newspaper gives us a taste of what the 1910 show was like in Headford Town, Co. Galway. ‘Duffy's circus, a travelling show, favoured us with an attendance. One of our annual fairs occurred on the same date. As usual, the streets were paraded by the few police on duty. But one of them more energetic than his fellows, finding no sphere for the exercise of his capabilities, proceeded to the circus grounds. There he remained with a few of his fellows, apparently engrossed in the acrobatic performances, till his attentions were arrested by the entrance of a drunken man clad in peasant's garb, creating unusual noise and mirth. He sallied forth in dashing form to remove this drunken, boisterous, obnoxious, provoking, mirth producer, and just as he went to lay hands on him the peasant fell to the ground. He stooped his unwieldy form to catch him, but the fellow, with one bound, jumped on to the performing horse's back and left the poor constable gazing in awestricken, petrified amazement at the clown on horse-back, he intended arrest ' (Connacht Tribune, September 24^th 1910).

Just four years after taking over the reins of the Duffy Circus, Annie Duffy died in Newtownards, Co. Down on the 17th July, 1913. She was buried in Drogheda alongside her husband. John Duffy Jr. was now in charge of Duffy’s Circus.

John Duffy Jr.

W.S. Meadmore the circus historian who met him called him a 'thorough character'. Meadmore referred to John Duffy Jr. as ‘Imperial John’ and described as such. “Imperial John might have been the creation of a novelist's fancy so amazingly did he confirm to the stock figures of fiction: picturesque dress, game leg, bombastic manner and a lively flow of language. He was a character. He paid his artistes well but expected much. During performances he stood at the ringside: if he liked an act he would shout at the top of his great voice: "Come on you b--------- baskets - clap! - he's good." But if an act displeased him, he was equally vociferous with blame and disgust. "He's lousy!" he would yell. " An' me paying the spalpeen twenty quid a week. A fabulous amount. Give him the bird boys!" (Meadmore, 2016).

An altogether different description comes from Jim Brent, a circus performer who actually toured with Duffy’s Circus during the 1919 season who describes him as follows: ‘Leaning against a quarter pole in the circus tent was a man of about forty-five, short and broad of shoulder with dark hair and heavy features, set in a line from which humour appeared to have fled long ago’ (Brent, 1958). Brent and John Duffy Jr. didn’t get on with Brent and his brother Tommy only doing one tour with Duffy’s Circus before leaving them.

John Junior wasn’t the only character in the Duffy Circus at the time. John Duffy’s advance agent ‘Major’ Fred Lewis was a well-known and interesting man. Hired by John Duffy Junior in 1916 he was called by John Jr. as the “Napoleon of the Irish Roads”. Lewis worked for John Jr. from 1916 to 1943. Lewis’s real name was James Doyle but he changed it to the more show business name of Major Fred Lewis. Lewis all in all spent over six decades on the road as an advance man for Irish Circuses also working for the likes of Baker's, Ginnett's, Davis's, Buff Bill’s and Lloyds' Circuses. He was also the advance agent for ‘Bostock and Wombles Menagerie’ when they toured Ireland.

The job of the Advance Agent was several. Sir Garrard Tyrwhitt-Drake gives us an excellent description of the advance agents’ job in his book ‘The English Circus and Fair Ground’. “Three weeks before that date he sends his advance agent. This gentleman used to travel with a one van, but now probably he drives a 10 h.p motor. He has already been given the route the proprietor wishes to travel. This is usually a great secret, so that other shall not nip in and get in front and be the first circus in the town that season. He will have booked the best ground he can at the cheapest price. A good ground must be accessible as possible, level, with an easy pull in – no narrow gates uphill! – and sufficiently large to let the whole show be arranged on it without cramping. There must also be a supply of good water on or near it” (Bosworth, 1935). They must also visit and arrange corn and forage for the local animals as well as arranging with the printers for the amount of posters he will need.  After arranging and paying for the field the advance man would then advertise that the circus is on the way. Other jobs that Sir Tyrwhitt-Drake didn’t mention which a good advance man would have to do was to run interference in case another circus was in the vicinity that might cause trouble, and that there were no problems with local dignitaries who might kick up. Lewis was the best in the business at this. At one stage when he was working for another rival circus he encountered Duffy’s then Advance Man in Cavan Town. Lewis allegedly frightened him so much “that he left the horse and van in Cavan Town and went home leaving without a moments notice, and in the thick of opposition” (Duffy, 2016b). As veteran advance publicity agent, Barney Bernardo, stated ‘It must be remembered that circusing in Ireland is warfare (without bloodshed) – taking positions, rounding up other shows, looking out for missions, retreats, sports, local shows, races etc.’ (McMinn, 2012).

The Circus like all businesses could be cutthroat and while the Irish Circus Families all acted cordially with one another it was a different story with their advance men who used everything from sabotaging each other’s advance wagons or cars, to spreading rumours in local pubs about the rival circus or on occasion putting up ‘Rat Sheets’ about the other circus.

‘Rat Sheets’ while never very popular in Ireland were used throughout the Circus World at the time. Usually it was a nasty rumour about the rival circus, which was just coming into town telling the people to ignore it as it didn’t deserve their support. While used in Ireland it was rare and even then, extremely mild. A more dangerous worry to a Circus was another Circus ‘burning’ the populace of a town so that a new circus coming in would have to deal with a hostile population, which was against Circuses. Again, while quite common in the United States at this time it was rarely done in Ireland although clashes like the one in Coalisland would be a good example of a town being burned because of circumstances outside people’s control.

An example of deliberate burning would an American Circus, which actually had pickpockets on staff. The people who ran these circuses would change their Circus’s name nearly every year, as it would be no good after a year’s touring. One of their favourite tricks to do was to keep the crowd outside corralled in a large group rather than a straight line then announce to the patron’s a message of ‘Please beware we have heard of several pickpockets in the crowd!’ Everyone would then instinctively check their pockets where they kept their money. The company’s thieves who would have being paying attention to the placement of the cash would then move into the crowd looting as much as possible. An Irish-American of the name John V. ‘Pogey’ O’Brien was meant to have being the worst of these scoundrels touring the United States.

With Fred Lewis giving Duffy’s a good edge in marketing and a strong loyal group who worked with Duffy for years as well as his own family Duffy’s Circus grew and prospered.

A normal circus day back then would have been the following not including a set-up or travel back then would be the following. Firstly, there would be a ‘Charivari’. The Clown Charivari is the opening scene by the clowns, who rush into the ring and play tricks on each other and the spectators to warm them up. They are then banished by the ringmaster who shoos them away before introducing the first act, which would be warming up back stage. Others would be on tickets while the rest would be selling food inside or playing in the band. Jim Brent recalls his first ever circus night working with the Duffy’s being thrown in at the deep end. He and his brother were told to ‘go over to the costume wagon and get a dress each for the charivari and you’ – indicating myself – ‘help Mrs. Duffy at the ticket entrance when the audience coming in. At times a good bit of pushing takes place there.’ Turning to Tommy, he said: ‘after the charivari, help the patrol outside. Youngsters like to go in under the canvas!’ (Brent, 1958). Youngsters did like crawling in under the canvas if they couldn’t pay which was a definite annoyance to circus owners but it didn’t irk them anywhere near as much as other older individuals who would go to the circus with a knife and when the performance had started slice open two eye holes for themselves to see. While the individual in question if they were not caught would get a free show the circus would definitely get two holes in its tent which apart from looking ugly would require time and expense to fix. This meant that a member of the circus would have to patrol around the tent at all times to make sure this wasn’t happening.

With Irish crowds usually not the best-behaved back then there would usually be several people taking tickets at the entrance of the tent. This is where Mrs. Duffy worked. We have the following description of her working there. “She worked with the speed of a conjuror – none escaped, no matter how they bustled in or varied the explanation of ‘tickets behind’. She was immune to all distractions, giving her whole attention to the collecting of the little coloured pieces of paper. Standing as firmly as the rock of Gibraltar, uttering an occasional exhortation of ‘Not so fast please’ to the customers, she warned me: ‘Don’t let yourself be pushed over!” (Brent, 1958).

With the crowd safely in, the main Circus would begin then after the show there would be a rodeo which people could stay for half-price. This was more or less the way circuses ran back in the early part of the twentieth century. Also, with more circuses back then the shows had to be top-quality.

The Duffy Circus continued to be a large success with the family slowly getting larger and the show becoming more innovative. They also changed the name of the Circus to the ‘Duffy Family Circus’. We don’t know how they divided the responsibilities between them but things seemed to go on amicably enough until 1917 when the children decided to split up. 

The split was done for practical reasons. The third generation all had wives and husbands with their own families. Continuing under one roof economically did not make sense. It was decided to split the circus with different members taking different parts to set up their own shows. So, starting in 1918 there would be multiple Duffy Circuses on the road at the same time.

One of the shows that set up was ‘Duffy and McLean Circus’. This was James Duffy teaming up with Elizabeth Duffy and her husband James Candlish. James Candlish who when he married Elizabeth in 1911 was going under the stage name ‘Sydney Mitzsuko’ had at some point changed it to Jimmy McLean. Which was both easier to pronounce and more Scottish sounding.

The Wilson and Duffy Circus, which was ran by Phyllis Duffy and her husband Arthur Wilson.

The last one was John Duffy and Sons Circus who referred to himself as ‘the Irish Barnum’.

This highly competitive situation must have been confusing for the Irish public who suddenly found that there was now three Duffy’s Circus’s on the road all claiming to be original. This type of situation had happened before with the Sanger Brothers splitting their circus in two with both keeping the name Sanger in the title. The Chipperfields had also done it with one branch of the family renaming themselves (Barry) to differentiate themselves from the rest under agreement as they split into several different units.

While the split was amicable, with a near oversaturation of circuses on the Irish road there would inevitably be problems. At one stage John Duffy & Son’s Circus and Duffy and McLean’s Circus found themselves both playing Donaghadee, Co. Down at the same time in the same field! Irish strongman, John Moriarty, who was with John Duffy’s Circus recalls that John Duffy won that particular tussle as he ‘got the crowds at both the day show and the night show’ (Moriarty, n.d.).

It wasn’t always a tussle. Moriarty recalls being with John Duffy’s Circus in the 1918 season that the same thing happened with ‘The Wilson and Duffy Circus’ also in Co. Down, this time in Kircubbin. This time though an agreement was reached were ‘Wilson’s joined with Duffy’s in the latter’s tent, so the people of the town got a double show that night and a double band too’ (Moriarty, n.d.).

The Wilson and Duffy Circus closed down for good in 1920. Phyllis Duffy died in 1919 and her husband Arthur Wilson decided to quit the following year. John Moriarty was with Arthur Wilson in his last year. ‘1 was with the show that season, at the end of which the show was sold, and John Duffy bought most of it. Wilson had had a very good season in 1920 but he grew tired of circus life. It was a fine show, he had then the largest tent in Ireland, and he was the first show in Ireland to have electric lighting. Owing to his wife's death, Wilson had lost heart in things. I spent a very happy season with Wilson's. Arthur was a very likable fellow’ (Moriarty, n.d.).

The years in between the First and Second World War are considered by Irish Circus Historians like Patrick Houlihan to be the Golden Years of the Irish Circus. There was at any one time at least five top quality circuses touring the Island with some of the best acts available being brought over and touring with the Irish Circuses. Most of the Circuses would still have being horse-drawn with Duffy’s not going motorized until the 1930’s.

Below is an advertisement of the line-up for John Duffy and Son’s 1926 season.

JOHN DUFFY AND SON'S BIG CIRCUS

The John Duffy and Sons' famous Circus and Wild West Show, now touring Ireland, presents a non-stop programme containing many sensational acts and other features that are new to the Irish public. In addition to the ever-popular equestrian turns, and the funniest of the clowns, the Otsu troupe of Japanese has been engaged, and appear in extraordinary equilibrist, acts. The Cossacks will give a thrilling exhibition and a party of Zulus provide an exciting native scene. Of course these are only a few of the items in the big programme which will be submitted in the mammoth three-pole tent, brilliantly illuminated by electric light. There will be a midday procession at one o'clock, and performances at 3 and. 8 o'clock. The prices will be 1s 3d, 2s, 3s, - 4a and 5s ; children 3d each to matinee. No half-price at night (Anglo-Celt Newspaper, June 19^th 1926).

As I previously mentioned the line-up of the 1926 season I will also use this season to give two examples of the problem’s circuses could face on the road back then. The first one is accidents. Elizabeth Duffy was attacked and severely mauled by a baboon while performing in a cage with the Monkey while the circus was at Clonakilty in Co. Cork. Animal attacks while rare did happen and this incident must have been of sufficient savagery as it made the local papers. The other incident happened in Athlone were three boys snuck into the field at night and cut off the tails of all the Circus Horses (Anglo–Celt Newspaper, May 8^th 1926). Apart from being unsightly it would have caused the horses incredible discomfort, as they would not have had anything to swat flies away with. The tails would also have taken anywhere between six months to over two years to grow back depending on the damage caused by the vandals. These random acts of mischief or violence while not happening often still would have being something that circuses would have to constantly be on the watch for. A disgruntled customer with a grudge could cause untold damage if vigilance was not kept by the Circus folk such as the Battle of Coalisland mentioned above.

Duffy's Circus Poster (1943)

Apart from dealing with customers and wild animals, Ireland at this time during the inter-war years was going through a huge upheaval at a political level. During this time the Irish War of Independence (1920) was fought as well as the Irish Civil War (1922-1923) as well as the partition of the North of the Island. Tommy Duffy (b. 1929), in an interview with Richard McMinn recalls his late father James Duffy who was with the Duffy and McLean Circus ‘as it moved between towns in the early hours of the morning in 1922–3 sometimes came upon trenches dug across the roads to create ambush opportunities for the IRA irregulars. Watched by the concealed IRA volunteers lying in wait for Free State government troops, the circus company would fill in the trenches and when the wagons had all passed over, dig them out again’ (McMinn, 2012).

With the Wilson and Duffy show gone. There were just two circuses left on the road with the Duffy name but it still meant that the two constantly had to differentiate themselves. In a 1929 newspaper advertisement John Duffy calls his circus ‘The Real John Duffy and Sons Big Circus and Road Show’ stating the ‘Best array of circus tales ever seen in Ireland. It alone is the one big Irish show, and should not be confused with any 'other' by the same name.’ (Anglo-Celt Newspaper, March 23^rd 1929).

Maybe because of this constant reminding to the public that The John Duffy & Son’s Circus decided to leave and go to Britain for a year. They renamed themselves ‘Dupreno and Sons’ Circus’ and went to see if they could crack the British market. Not much is known about their British tour except it seems to have being a costly mistake. Duffy’s came back the next season and dropped the Dupreno name for good.

The other Duffy’s Circus seems to have had a quieter year with only two incidents making the papers. The first one is tragic, with a workman being ran over by a circus wagon in County Antrim putting him in a critical condition (Anglo-Celt Newspaper, July 23^rd 1927). The other mention is under the headline ‘Arabs in a Public House’ with two “Arab performers” from the Circus being caught in a pub after hours in Carrick-on-Shannon (Anglo-Celt Newspaper, October 29^th1927). The editor of the Anglo-Celt (a superb paper when it comes to its coverage of the circus) knowing enough of these gentlemen’s religion to cover this particular incident found it noteworthy to mention their ethnicity, but spared their blushes by not mentioning their names.

The Duffy and McLean Circus* doesn’t seem to have gone out for the 1928 season leaving just one Duffy’s Circus on the road with Duffy’s Big Circus and Combined Shows big attraction been ‘Samson the Strongest Man on Earth’. An advertisement for the show states “The Great Circus Programme includes SAMSON; the Strongest man on earth driving Six-inch Nails into Hard Wood with his naked hands, Bends Iron across his legs. Ireland's Strongest Men are Specially Invited to A (sic) pit their strength against Samson's. Supported by a Big Circus Programme. Big procession Daily at 1 o'clock, headed by Lewis's 15-Piece Band. See our Mammoth Three-pole Tent with holding capacity for 6,000 People (Anglo-Celt Newspaper, July 14^th 1928).  

John Duffy and Son's Super Circus, Fairgreen, Ardee, 1936

Moving to the 1930’s and John Duffy and Son’s circuses big act was ‘Broncho Bill’ a western act while Johnny Quinn seems to have been the main star for part of the decade with a singing clown act. The midday parade also saw its last hurrah being gone by 1933 (McMinn, 2012). This was probably to do with motorization having come in with the vast majority of circuses in Ireland now using trucks and lorries to move around the Island.  Duffy’s though still gave great shows with its 1936 programme been reviewed and called ‘first class’ with a “Strong man "turn" a feature, clever gym-mats magicians, trained monkeys, dogs and geese” (Anglo-Celt Newspaper, June 20^th 1936). This was also the year that a Chinese entertainer named Djiu Be Fu drowned in Loughrea Lake in August 1936 while taking a break from a circus performance in the town and was buried in the grounds of what is now Loughrea Library – formerly St. Brendan’s Church of Ireland church where Dju Be Fu’s funeral was held.

The competition at the time during the interwar years was fearsome with some of the best circuses Ireland has ever had on the road at the same time.  This led to innovations happening with the very best being this newspaper advertisement that reads like a review by Duffy’s Gigantic Circus in the Connacht Sentinel in 1939:

And so rightly named is the John Duffy and Sons' Gigantic Circus of 1939, with its fleet of brand new yellow-red motor trucks, hosts of beautifully coloured horses and ponies, and many living carriages that are used to transport the large cast of artistes. Everything looks spick and span and we thought the yellow and bright colours of the paint work made such a contrast to the beautiful green of the Irish countryside. It was a grand sight to see this huge travelling show wending its way from "Waterford to Kilkenny”. John Duffy, the proprietor, gave us a hearty welcome on our visit to the performance; the huge tent was brilliantly lighted and well-seated, and the Silver Circus Band opened the performance in that real circus style. Then came the clowns with their merry jokes, and for over two hours we were entertained by artistes from practically every part of the globe. 'The show was well patronised and went through without a hitch—a really bright and entertaining programme in fact, a show with so much in it that you could enjoy it a second time. So when it comes to your town take this tip! You will be very hard to please if you do not enjoy this Great Show. There will be a grand free sight at 7.30 mostly outside the circus when Madam Ducroy will walk the tight rope 60 foot high mid-air, the sight of a lifetime.”

(Connacht Sentinel Newspaper, May 27^th 1939)

It also should be noted that Mrs. Eileen Duffy died in 1939 and her passing was noted in the newspapers of the day.

The 1940’s of course brought World War II as it’s numerous challenges such as unavailability of foreign artistes from abroad coming to Ireland for work, rationing, fuel shortages, foot and mouth disease restrictions, black-outs etc.  Also, one half of the Island was neutral with the other being on a war footing with even more restrictions in place there. These restrictions would have intensified that warfare. The Duffy’s relied upon mostly family acts to see them through and they seemed to have managed successfully.  The new war years seems to have gone smoothly with only two tragedies of note. A worker for the circus named Daniel Sullivan was killed watering horses in Belturbet, Co. Cavan (Connacht Telegraph Newspaper, December 4^th 1943) and John Duffy II passing in November, 1944 (Anglo-Celt Newspaper, November 11^th 1944). With John Duffy II passed Duffy’s Circus would have a new iteration under the next generation. This will be covered in another segment in the future.

*No one seems to be sure when Duffy and McLean’s Circus ended. I’ve seen several dates including 1917 (too early) and 1920 (assuming they got it mixed up with Duffy and Wilson’s). We have statements mentioning it going during the Irish Civil War and have advertisements for it up until 1925 when it goes dark. That said John Duffy’s II Circus constantly referred to itself as the real Duffy’s circus for most of this period making me think it was around in some iteration for most of the late 1920’s. If I had to guess I would think it stopped being a viable circus in 1928/29 but that is just an educated guess. 

** If you want a definitive history of Duffy's Circus then the late Richard McMinn's The Duffys & the Challenging World of the Circus in 19th and 20th Century Britain & Ireland is that definitive history. I would be delighted to call this a companion piece for the superb work he did writing that article.

Reference list

Anglo-Celt Newspaper (1897). A Circus Horse goes through Window. Anglo-Celt Newspaper, 24 Apr., p.3.

Anglo-Celt Newspaper (1926a). Duffy’s Circus. Anglo-Celt, 19 Jun., p.2.

Anglo-Celt Newspaper (1926b). Three Athlone Boys Were Remanded on Charge of Cutting the Tails of 14 Horses at Duffy’s Circus . Anglo-Celt Newspaper, 8 May, p.3.

Anglo-Celt Newspaper (1929). Duffy’s Circus. Anglo-Celt Newspaper, 23 Mar., p.8.

Anglo-Celt Newspaper (1962). Mr. J. Doyle, Agent General. Duffy’s Circus. Anglo-Celt Newspaper, 10 Jun., p.2.

Bosworth, W.G. (1935). Wagon Wheels : the Romance of the Circus. London: Heath, Cranton, limited, p.118.

Brent, J. (1958a). At the Balance. The Autobiography of a Circus Artist. London: Jonathan Cape, p.54.

Brent, J. (1958b). At the Balance. The Autobiography of a Circus Artist. London: Jonathan Cape, pp.57–8.

Britannica Editors (1998). Tumbling | Gymnastics, Trampolining, Flips. [online] Encyclopedia Britannica. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/topic/tumbling-acrobatics [Accessed 9 Feb. 2018].

CircusHistory.org (2016). O’Brien, John V. ‘Pogey’ . [online] Circushistory.org. Available at: http://www.circushistory.org/Olympians/OlympiansO.htm [Accessed 8 Feb. 2016].

Connacht Tribune Newspaper (1910). The Copper and the Clown. Connacht Tribune Newspaper, 24 Sep., p.4.

Duffy, P. (2016a). Descendants of Margaret Cavel and Patrick James Duffy. [online] Shaw.ca. Available at: http://members.shaw.ca/pauline777/Duffy.html [Accessed 7 Feb. 2016].

Duffy, P. (2016b). John Duffy the Irish Barnum . [online] Available at: http://members.shaw.ca/pauline777/Duffy.html [Accessed 8 Feb. 2016].

Duffy, P. (2016c). Patrick James Duffy. [online] http://members.shaw.ca/pauline777/Duffy.html. Available at: http://members.shaw.ca/pauline777/Duffy.html [Accessed 8 Feb. 2016].

Irish Examiner Newspaper (1926). Animal Attack. Irish Examiner Newspaper, 4 Jun., p.3.

McMinn, R. (2012). The Duffys & the Challenging World of the Circus in 19th and 20th Century Britain & Ireland. [online] ulsterhistoricalfoundation.com. Available at: https://ulsterhistoricalfoundation.com/shop/products/duffys [Accessed 28 Mar. 2024].

Meadmore, W.S. (2016). Imperial John. [online] Twjc.co.uk. Available at: http://www.twjc.co.uk/books/thecircusbook.html [Accessed 6 Apr. 2026].

Moriarty, J. (n.d.). Circus Memories. Print Out.

National Institute of Circus Arts (2018). Pitching. [online] Nica.com.au. Available at: http://www.nica.com.au/circus-dictionary.php?cd_id=55 [Accessed 8 Feb. 2018].

Slout, W.L. (2012). From Rags to Ricketts and Other Essays on Circus History. USA: Borgo Press.

Sunday Independent Newspaper (1906a). A Pitched Battle. Sunday Independent Newspaper, 11 Nov., p.8.

Sunday Independent Newspaper (1906b). Circus Attack. Sunday Independent Newspaper, 14 Oct., p.8.

Tyrwhitt-Drake , G. (1946). The English Circus and Fair Ground. First ed. Methuen and Co, p.73.