'I am just devastated': Piper's funfair wagon forced to move from Kinsale site  

Funfair will not go ahead after Cork County Council sought a 50% increase in the cost of the lease on the traditional funfair site

Bill Piper sitting on the steps of his  showman's caravan in Kinsale.

The man behind one of Ireland’s last surviving traditional funfairs says he is devastated after being forced to move his family’s landmark ‘showman’s wagon’ from its traditional parking spot for the first time in almost a century.

Brendan Piper, the fourth generation of his family involved in the Piper's funfair business in Kinsale, Cork, has also confirmed he and his father, Bill, will not be staging a funfair in the harbour town this summer after Cork County Council sought a 50% increase in the cost of the lease on the traditional funfair site — a small car park on the town’s waterfront.

But he has also expressed fears that further lease increases sought by the council for the site for each of the next three years — he says the council has sought an additional €1,000 for next summer, an additional €2,500 in 2024 and a staggering €5,000 extra for 2025 — has put the funfair’s entire future in the town at risk.

Bill Piper in his caravan: 'What we do is pure and simple — it’s about making childhood memories. That’s the core and the essence of what we do, what we have been doing since 1939.'

“I am just devastated by this whole thing. Their decision on the showman’s wagon was tough enough but the conditions attached to the lease and the huge increases was just rubbing salt in the wounds,” he said.

“I was told by the council that local businesses said they needed the car parking, so I said to the council they can have the site for car parking this year.

And then I was told about the huge increase in the lease for the next three years. I just don’t know where we go from here.

“What we do is pure and simple — it’s about making childhood memories. That’s the core and the essence of what we do, what we have been doing since 1939.

“I would plead with the county council to reconsider this, to let us continue on with running the traditional funfair and let us bring the showman’s wagon back.

“It’s as if they have a vendetta against us. Who is pushing that? What have they got against us?” The Piper family funfair has been a part of the social fabric of Kinsale since the 1930s.

Bill Piper of Piper's amusements dynasty. 

Mr Piper’s grandfather, Old Bill, built the showman’s wagon in 1932. He, and his son, Bill Senior, who is now 82, lived in it for many years. It has always been parked in the town’s Short Quay, relocating to the funfair’s waterfront site from May to September annually. 

“People have told us that the showman’s wagon is a bit like the Eiffel Tower in Paris — that you have to get a photograph in front of it to prove you were in Kinsale,” Brendan said.

Covid forced the cancellation of the funfair in 2020, during which time Brendan removed the wagon for a complete restoration and renovation, and later returned it to Short Quay.

He said when he enquired in early 2021 about leasing the funfair site for the summer, the council increased the lease and attached a condition ordering the removal of the wagon from Short Quay.

A deadline for its removal was imposed, and legal letters were issued warning the wagon would be impounded.

Brendan said the council told him that it would cost €950 to have it released, and that he would face daily costs of up to €30 for every day it was in the pound.

“My back was against the wall. They told me to find an alternative site, and then I was offered an alternative site but it’s just not suitable,” he said.

The wagon is now in storage and the town is without its funfair.

Brendan said he feels as if the council, and elements of the town business community, have a vendetta against the family.

“The day true local Kinsale people want Piper’s to leave, we’ll leave,” he said.

However, almost 1,000 people have signed a petition, organised by Marc Ó Riain, the Green Party’s representative for the area, calling for the wagon to remain on Short Quay.

“Residents and longtime visitors are shocked that such a core part of the town and its history has been forced to leave. This is part of our intangible heritage and history here,” Mr Ó Riain said.

“The showman’s wagon is an integral part of Kinsale. It’s been here a lot longer than most of its residents. 

What does it say about us as a community if we do not stand up for people who have brought so much colour and fun to our kids for almost 100 years.” 

The Pipers also have political support on Cork County Council led by councillors Alan Coleman and Seán O’Donovan.

“It looks like the council is hell-bent on confrontation rather than consultation,” he said.

Mr O’Donovan said while the Short Quay area has been used for outdoor dining, the wagon does not affect that use in any way.

“This wagon is part of the fabric and history of our town. Other towns have been in touch with me to say they’ll take the funfair if Kinsale doesn’t want it. I am not lying down on this,” he said.

Cork County Council at first declined to comment but when pushed by the Irish Examiner, a spokesperson said: “While Cork County Council does not comment on individual transactions, the council has been in discussions with the individual involved and made reasonable offers to them and are hoping that these will resolve the issues.” 

It declined to answer a raft of detailed questions about the process involved.