Herta Fossett honoured with special award

The first lady of Irish circus has received a lifetime achievement award for giving enjoyment to people young and old.

Fossett’s Circus matriarch Herta received the Circus Friends Association award from its vice president, Steve Chapman, in recognition of the work the 85-year-old has done, along with her family, to build their name and create fun and enjoyment for children for 117 years.

Up to 5,000 family members, fans in Ireland and across Europe, and members of some of the biggest circuses in the world gathered over the weekend at Fossett’s Big Top at Lucan Sarsfields GAA Grounds, just 100m from the family home, to show their appreciation to Herta.

Herta fled Czechoslovakia in the early 1950s with her parents and sibling with just the clothes on their backs when the communist regime took control. Soon after, she married her late husband, Teddy Fossett, and made the circus her life from the age of 21.

Surrounded by her five children and 15 grandchildren, she was honoured for her dedication to circus life. Herta, who admits it is a “hard life”, still buys confectionary for the circus shop. She says she will “never retire. It’s my life.”

The future of the circus, which started out as the Amazing Doctor Powell in 1888, hung in the balance this year as the family tried to juggle debts of over €1m. But it was saved from liquidation after being put into examinership in 2014.

The family was adamant to continue the business, as it has become an “Irish institution”, said Herta. Last year, almost 127,000 children and adults visited Fossett’s Circus nationwide.

“There’s tremendous support in this country for who we are and what we provide,” she said. “The show must go on and it will. The circus has had to reinvent itself so many times. It has survived the introduction of silent movies, mainstream cinema complexes, games consoles, mobile phones, and other electronic devices and we want it to continue for another 130 years.

“We are like a moving village that employs almost 40 people. It is the only life that we know. When my husband died, I promised him on his deathbed that, as long as I’m alive along, with the family we would keep it going.

“I’m absolutely thrilled to be receiving this award which is not only for me but for the whole family but I’m nervous too. It was a big shock to find out I was getting this award which is like the Oscars in our line of work or way of life.”

Through tears, Herta said: “I’m proud but I’m sad that my late husband will not be alongside me but I hope he will be watching from where ever he is. He would be so thrilled.”

From December 11 to 22, Fossett’s will hold school education workshops in the RDS.

“Fossett’s Circus has a legacy and we want to continue it in every parish of this country,” said Herta. “In a way, it’s part of Irish heritage.”