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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)
Lucky winner Pat Woods from Tallow, Co. Waterford with Perks staff and friends celebrating the 80th Birthday- Amanda Hosford Mansfield, Dainia Foley, Bunny Girl Siobhan, Sal and Phil Tivy, Stella Perks, Loreen Sweeney, Clara Foley, Peter Roche, Richard Slattery, Eoin McCarthy, Barry Criper and Chris Brixey
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.
Phil Tivy celebrating Perks 80th year in business with Bunny Girl Siobhan
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. Read more
Despite the fact that the importance of the Cork and Queenstown line overshadowed that of its predecessor, a steady service was maintained to Youghal until the close of its passenger station in 1963, with up to five trains running from the city on a daily basis. Research K.McCarthy/M.Hussey (Youghalonline.com) Photos: Courtesy of Cork County Library and the National Library of Ireland
Youghal Excursion Scene 1908
However, it was during the summer months that activity on the Youghal line was at its peak, with several extra trains added to transport thousands of day trippers to the seaside. These excursions are immortalised in the traditional song “Johnny Jump Up”:
Ill tell you a story that happened to me
One day as I went down to Youghal by the sea Read more
