In the 1970s, going to the circus was a huge deal. Duffy’s circus came to town maybe once a year, but that didn’t mean we got to go every time. There were five of us in the family and unless we had our own money – forget it!

So, the few times I did get to the circus I really enjoyed it. My favourite was always the acrobats, which was – if I remember correctly – a couple of girls, maybe a guy too, on a swing and a rope, and performing all sorts of gymnastics on the floor. Sure, I thought it was amazing.

I did like the clowns. Some kids cried at them and I could never understand why. They made me laugh, even at a very young age.

Back then they had an elephant or two, a pony, a couple of monkeys, and always a little dog. There may have been other animals; I don’t remember. They stopped using animals in their show in 2018. I’m glad about that!

Duffy’s circus was originally founded in 1775. From then until 1961, the Irish-born Duffy family went through splits and fallouts, one company became two, then became one again — Tom Duffy’s Circus. In the late 70s, Tom Duffy became the CEO and owner of the circus. He died in March 2022 at the age of 92. His son David is the current ringmaster of Tom Duffy’s Circus and it is run by David’s two sons, Tom and Jamie.

I did go through a phase of wanting to run away and join the circus, to spend my life doing hand stands. Probably just as well that I didn’t!

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Thanks for calling today! Before you go…

Would you like a peek inside the pages of my fictional novel? It might just be your cup of tea!

Set in a gossipy small town in Ireland at a time when marriage is for keeps and sexuality is repressed, Secrets in the Babby House is a family saga over three decades that starts in 1956. It is a story of love, deception, and stolen diaries filled with sins and secrets.