Children to enjoy Fossett's circus spectacle at Gerald Kean's expense

Roll up, roll up — hundreds of very special children are set to enjoy a night at the circus, thanks to celebrity solicitor Gerald Kean.

The flamboyant legal eagle, who by his own admission has been known to act the clown on occasions, won Fossett’s Circus for a night and donated the 600 tickets to over a dozen Cork charities.

The children and their families will attend a spectacular two-and-a-half hour performance by Ireland’s national circus at the Sunbeam industrial estate in Blackpool tomorrow.

Mr Kean bid up to €3,000 for the circus tickets at Keith Duffy’s annual Christmas fundraiser for Irish Autism held at Powerscourt Hotel about three years ago.

“To be honest, I wasn’t entirely sure what I was bidding for — I knew it was a circus for the night, but that’s about it,” Mr Kean said. “But I knew I wanted it to go to Cork and to the charities that I work with and support there.

“We’ll have a full big top and it should be a great night — one last treat for them before they go back to school.”

The arrangements for the Cork charity performance were finally nailed down about two months ago.

Fresh from its successful run in Waterville, Co Kerry, Fossett’s rolled into Cork yesterday ahead of tonight’s opening performance. But tomorrow’s charity show is an exclusive performance for the chosen charities.

Circus spokesman Charles O’Brien said the entire team was really looking forward to hosting the children and their families, given it was a sort of a Cork homecoming.

“We’ve played Mahon Point, Carrigaline and Ballincollig in recent years but this is the first time that we’ve been back performing in the city in almost 25 years,” he said.

“When the lights do down, people can expect a two-hour fun-filled family extravaganza.”

He stressed tickets are not available to the general public for this sold-out performance, but he urged people who would like to support the various charities to donate to them individually.

Fossett’s, which has been touring for 127 years and which ended its use of exotic animals almost a decade ago, will be in Blackpool until Sunday before heading to Electric Picnic.