In a two-part series, Christy Parker traces the origins and growth of Perks Fun Fair, whose 80th birthday occurs this year. Photo: Michael Hussey (YoughalOnline.com)

Great loves may come and many go but the true romance of life is childhood. Strong argument can be made that childhood makes a fool of us, begetting us a joy that romance’s adult resonance forever fails to replicate. Given their potent ability, not just to bring our expectations to the brim but also actually to meet them, it is small wonder that playgrounds, festivals, carnivals, circuses and funfairs bequeath such lasting effect; for such places are the essence of romance.

This year, one of ‘play-worlds’ most romantic institutions reaches a notable anniversary. Perks funfair is 80 years smiling. Its origins are intertwined with romance of more mortal kind, which set in train a journey of faith, magic, fun, nostalgia and family. For it all began when William and Violet McDonald Perks (fondly known as Jumbo and V) married in Dungarvan 80 years ago.

Jumbo Perks was born in 1903, into a middle class family in Larne, Co. Antrim. His dad was a teacher and Jumbo was the middle child of two boys and a girl. When Jumbo was 11, the family’s fortunes were catapulted into chaos when his father died. To survive, the family had to go out to work.

Shovelling coal – Jumbo acquired a job with Caledonian Amusements, run by Scotsman George McDonald. George had arrived in Ireland in 1889 and would make a living travelling Ireland with a show comprised mainly of stalls and games. The young Jumbo began his working life far from the glamour of show business, instead shovelling coal into steam engines and furnaces and such like, after school. In his spare time he would learn the violin from his mum, by then a music teacher who played piano on silent movies. His love for that musical instrument would last a lifetime.

It was some years before George introduced Jumbo to the joys of running the spinning and roulette attractions, but by then other wheels had already been set in motion. Jumbo had become acquainted with George’s daughter Violet and by the time they had pulled into the station of late adolescence, their love was a train without reverse. Parental pronouncement insisted they await their early 20′s before marrying however, but in October 1929 the knot was tied.

Almost immediately on marrying, Jumbo and V put together their first funfair. Jumbo carved a carousel, three stalls (coconut, hoop la and spinner). Jumbo feared not having prizes for the spinner until V volunteered her wedding presents. The first show opened in Limerick in 1929. A steam engine transported the equipment into Limerick city centre. As the show was very small, Jumbo would bring the loads into town at noon and out again in the quiet of midnight. This leant the impression to those seen the daily arrivals that his show was much bigger and helped attract more customers!

The call of Youghal

Jumbo and V travelled the length and breadth of Ireland but Youghal held a special attraction, as indeed it had held for George MacDonald. They would ply their summer trade on the site of the Strand Church, actually helping to fundraise for its construction. In the mid 1940′s they would purchase land from Sammy Revins, another showman and grandfather of the butcher and Town Councillor of the same name, probably near Claycastle. Other land bought around that time included the sites appropriate to a garage and the old Atlantic and Pacific pubs near Moll Goggin’s Corner.

They next bought a site adjacent to the railway station, where they built a solid base. By then the show had expanded to include swing-boats, dodgems and chair-o-planes, all of which were considered the epitome of European thrill seeking!

Amongst the illustrious performers in those halcyon days of train excursions from Cork, vibrant seaside activities and sausage-frying Sunday’s in Clancy’s bar, (making today’s video-technology entertainment seem utterly bland), were wonders like Johnny Korass, a tightrope walker who balanced a pole on his head, Stan Lindberg, who dived 50ft into a tank of flames and Ida Bulga, a Zulu ‘snake charmer’ with the additional ability to do a war dance on broken bottles in his bare feet without so much as a limp. Ida, in his scanty African costume, (they had proper summers in those days!), spear and shield, was a regional sensation. On one occasion his snakes escaped to crawl their way into V’s caravan.

Through the early 1930s the couple’s family had grown. George was born in 1930, Betty two years later and Neddy in 1935. Sally Perks, the present proprietor would later be the last member of the family. As did Sally, her siblings attended boarding school from a nearly age as travelling with a fun fair did not provide for a standard education (though some might argue it provided a far better one!). Neddy died in 2006, while George is a landowner in west Waterford. The boys declined involvement with the family business.

Tragedy

In 1939 tragedy hit. During a trip to Bristol with V, Betty became trapped between floors in a hotel wire lift. She began screaming. Panicking, V called the manageress who pressed a button, which set the lift in motion. Unknown to the women, Betty had by then opened the lift door and was climbed towards the next floor. When the lift took off again she was crushed to death. In those days of slow travel, V was left alone in Bristol in immeasurable grief. “I don’t think my parents ever really got over it,” says Sally, adding “But the did what they had to do, which was to carry on.”

Jumbo and V went on to develop their site near the railway, running indoor and outdoor entertainment each June-August and touring for five months either side. In the 1960′s they built the legendary Showboat and diversified into music and dancing. If they had never done anything else their contribution to Youghal’s culture was consequently seasoned and cemented as household names -not to mention the households themselves- passed through the portals; Sundays brought three Mick Delahunty shows (3pm-5pm, 5pm-7pm and 10pm-2am), Saturday had the Gandy dancers ball, while regular guests included the Dixielanders, Brendan Bowyer & the Royal Showband and Alkabilk. Shane Fenton (and the Fentones, naturally!) graced the boards there too, years before he became known as Alvin Stardust.

In fast succession. Jumbo bought the Strand Palace, primarily for bingo and general theatre and entertainment. Around this time he also came under contract for an Italian funfair agency and spent much enjoyable time selling bumper cars throughout Europe. At home he was one of Youghal’s larger employers. For several years his most celebrated employee was one Jim ‘Tiny’ Culley, nicknamed in irony because he was, at 7ft 6″, Ireland’s tallest man, as deemed by the Guinness Book of Records.

End of an era…start of an era

V died on December 29th 1982. Ten years previous, the business had been passed to the couple’s daughter Sally and her husband Phil Tivy, though V and Jumbo had remained involved in its affairs. “It was still difficult to make decisions without their consent,” laughs Sally. In his latter years Jumbo became honorary president of the European Showman’s Guild. Perhaps mindful of the lengthy absences from his life of his own children- he used this position instigated the much needed and appreciated was ‘school teacher with every circus’ initiative that still persists today.

Extremely fit, Even in his mid-70′s Jumbo swam in the sea 365 days a year and continued to walk up to 20 miles a day, pursuing his love of hunting and shooting. He died, aged 83, on March 30th 1986. The romance of his creation would, however, live on.

In the next edition: Perks in the modern era and the plans for the 80th birthday celebrations.

Click on image to see the Perks 80th Birthday celebrations