Biography

Duffy's Circus story started in 1775 with Patrick James Duffy a circus acrobat from Dublin, Ireland when he established his own circus. Six of Patrick’s seven children followed his footsteps into circus.

In the 1870s, Duffy's second son, John, founded the John Duffy Circus. In 1917 the Duffy circus split into two separate companies. After John Duffy’s death in 1956, that part of the family circus was again split between his son James and his uncle. Through all of this, only one of the Duffy’s circuses managed to survive into the 1960s. By 1961, there was only one circus left, managed by Tom Duffy (b.1929) from the late 1970s onwards.

Tom Duffy retired in 2020 at 91 years of age and left the family business to his son David, the current ringmaster, who runs it with his sons Tom jnr. and Jamie. Tom jnr. and Jamie are the sixth generation of the Duffy family to be involved in the circus. They have been involved in the family business their entire lives and have found professional success and fame, being awarded a prestigious Silver Clown Award at the Monte-Carlo Circus Festival in 2018.

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