MANY people will have childhood memories of Christmas that are intertwined with a day out at the circus.
A family visit to the big top — to witness fearless aerial stunts, awesome acrobatics and all the drama and intrigue a curly-moustached master can conjure up in the ring — has been a favoured pastime in nations across Europe and further afield for centuries.
But little is known, or possibly even thought about, of the families and vast workforces that keep these theatres of fun and exhilaration working come wind, rain or snow.
Yet there are tales as intriguing as the performances played out on the centre stage in the lives and losses of the men and women of the circus tradition, which are subtly etched on the many generations of family that have come through it.
Circuses that have stood the longest have survived world wars and civil wars to continue to bring pleasure to the masses with the unexpected, unusual and unexplainable.
But for the performers the unique way of life can boast as much personal tragedy as it does excitement, exoticism and playing up to the audience.
For Mary Garcia (nee Fossett) it is the only life she has ever known and — while she has experienced many highs and lows over the years — she wouldn’t have it any other way.
Now based in Birmingham, the 88-year-old was born into Ireland’s much-loved Fossett’s Circus in Dublin in 1926.
In the years that have passed she has been famed as a child performer, travelled the world with the circus and raised seven children of her own, who all went into the family business.
But in contrast to the excitement that comes with such a life, Mary’s family has also been struck by a series of serious and fatal accidents over the years.
In 2003 her 38-year-old daughter Eva, a well-respected aerial artist, fell more than 20 feet to her death in front of a crowd of 800 people during a performance at the historic Hippodrome Circus in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.
Years earlier her eldest son Tony was left paralysed in a road accident in South Africa while the circus moved between sites.
Youngest daughter Mariska was also previously injured in action, breaking her back at the age of 21.
At the time doctors called on Mary to switch off her life support machine, but she refused, thankfully, and Mariska made a full recovery.
More recently, in 2006, her daughter Maria’s husband, French aerial artist Gilles Antares, was killed following a horrific fall from a trapeze.
“It’s very difficult to deal with the heartaches,” Mary told The Irish Post.
“You think about your family and those you have lost every day.”
Her widowed daughter Maria, who lives close to her mother in Birmingham, added: “Our family has suffered a lot of pain and devastation over the years, and we will never get over our loss.
“But the reality is there is a lot of tragedy with the circus,” the mother-of-two explains.
“That’s what comes with being on the road. Sometimes its sunshine, sometimes it’s snowing. That’s all part of the life. I am sure a lot do people in show business will relate to that.”
She added: “We have been heartbroken again and again, but it never stopped our work — you ask a pilot or anyone doing dangerous work to stop and they don’t. They just keep doing it.”
For Mary and her large family, who all continue to work in the industry, the tragedies are part and parcel of a lifestyle that has been “in their blood” for five generations.
Mary’s father Edward Fossett came from a circus family renowned for their horseback riding skills who ran shows across England.
He moved to Ireland during the First World War, where he began working for an acclaimed ventriloquist named Dr Powell on a touring variety show.
After falling for his daughter Mona, the pair soon wed.
Once married, Edward encouraged his father-in-law to launch his own Irish circus, which he did, with a German theme.
But when World War Two began its name was changed to the Fossett Brothers Circus, which would later become Fossett’s Circus.]
Members of the original Fossett's Brothers CircusListening to Mary, one of six children born to Edward and Mona, who all joined the family business, life within the original Fossett family was an exciting but hard-working affair.
“I enjoyed being part of the circus, we didn’t know any different,” she told us when we visited her home in Birmingham.
“I loved my life growing up, we travelled every day to a new town across Ireland to set up the circus. There would be two performances each day then everything would be broken down and we would be on the road again in the middle of the night.”
She added: “Life was hard really. We all worked hard, we travelled, we drove the horses from town to town, but we had fun too and there were always lots of animals. I had Jericho my pet monkey, my mother had a pet sea lion and we had lots of dogs, 150 horses, three elephants and lions.”
Mary, who officially began performing in her parents’ circus at the age of 14, first learnt the art of trapeze before being trained in bareback horse riding.
“We trained while we were travelling,” she explains, “and I wasn’t afraid to learn. I learnt the trapeze and then I learnt how to train the horses. It was bareback riding. I would perform, do voltage, jumping up and down, do pyramids, things like that, all on the back of the horse. I would skip on the horse also, but it just felt natural. All of my father’s sisters were bareback riders.”
While Mary claims the family “didn’t know” what a holiday was, over Christmas the Fossetts would spend some time in their winter quarters.
Originally this was located in the vast grounds of Ballybeg House, nestled within a forest in Co. Wicklow — which is now a popular wedding venue.
Later they moved their quarters to a secluded spot in Lucan, just outside of Dublin.
Seclusion was key for the touring circus family — who were large enough in number themselves, but also had to accommodate a raft of labour staff, artists, an eye-watering selection of exotic animals and all of their equipment when not on the road.
“We spent some time in winter quarters over Christmas, between doing some work in picture shows and variety shows and taking part in a show at the Belfast Hippodrome every year,” Mary explained.
“We never knew what a holiday was,” she adds, “as soon as we stopped a season we would start getting ready for the next one.”
When Edward and Mona Fossett both passed away at young ages, within years of one another, their six children were forced to work extra hard to keep the circus going.
They ensured that the big top went up — come rain or shine — every day that passed, even when they didn’t have enough cash to feed themselves, and eventually came through the toughest of times as strong and successful as they ever were.
And they all found love along the way — marrying and soon bringing a new generation of circus family into their tradition.
As Mary matured on the road she too found love in the circus, in the form of a Spanish juggler who was one of their many European artists.
Contracted to join the Fossett family for a summer season, Antonio Garcia and his brother Luis were renowned performers who had wowed crowds in Paris’ Moulin Rouge before making their way to Ireland.
Antonio and Mary began courting and were soon married under the Fossett’s Big Top in Ballyfermot, Dublin (Luis also later married Mary’s sister Amy).
The pair went on to have seven children of their own.
As the Fossett siblings moved away from their original circus home, to raise families and pursue their trade in other countries, Mary and Antonio found their own children, Tony, Maria, twins Carmel and Mona, Pablo, Eva and Mariska, were keen to pursue a career in the circus as The Garcia Troupe.
And while unthinkable tragedy has struck them along the way, the family continues to work in circus and variety acts across the world.
“We were all brought up in the circus so we loved it from a very early age,” Maria said.
“You are learning from when you are about three really. I always enjoyed it, but I remember watching my uncles and they worked so hard.
“They were up every day at 6am driving through to the next town, putting up these canvas tents and the conditions in Ireland were terrible for it.
“I’d see them every day bracing whatever weather was thrown at them to get the circus up and running. I always remember feeling so much sadness for them. They were always knee high in mud.”
She added: “Eventually all the Fossett brothers had wives and children and it became a very big family. A lot of my cousins stayed home with their grandmothers and were educated, but we stayed with the circus and we worked in the shows.
“It’s in you I think, even in my children now. We have settled down in Birmingham so they can get an education but we do the odd shows. They just love it. That’s what they want to be doing. It’s in their blood.”
Each of the Garcia siblings continues to work in the industry in some way, Maria explains, and most now do this with their own children.
Three of Mary’s grandchildren are currently completing their first performing season without their parents, on a six-month contract with an “epic Norwegian cruise ship”.
Another three are performing in Las Vegas, while others are working with their parents on shows scattered across Europe.
“Our lives today are a huge legacy from Fossett’s Circus, where we grew up,” Maria claims.
“All my cousins have stayed in the business with their families. Really everybody went into show business.
“But even though we are so scattered we are still a very close family. Living the life of a touring circus means you can set up home anywhere quite easily, but really home is when the family is all together.”
Despite much time passing these days between opportunities to get everyone together, the Garcia children are clear that they too wouldn’t have their lives any other way.
“I wouldn’t change a thing about our life,” said Maria.
“There were so many highlights over the years, each country we visited has its own culture and I loved to explore that, and we got a fantastic education on the world.
“Life was like one continuous adventure, so the whole thing is a highlight. We saw some fantastic places and there were so many beautiful parts of the journey.”
See More: Christmas, Dublin, Fossett’s Circus
