'It was scary': Circus family's terrifying ordeal of convoy being struck by wrong-way driver

ONE OF IRELAND’s oldest family circuses has spoken about their fear and concern after they were involved in a collision in Mayo last month when a car drove on the wrong side of the road towards them.

Tom Duffy’s Circus, run by the Duffy family for decades, was travelling from Ballina in Mayo to Maynooth in their convoy on Sunday night, 16 August, when the incident occurred.

News of the fatal M9 crash that killed five teenagers and left four members of another family with serious injuries had broken earlier that day. 

The circus convoy was on the N26 between Swinford and Foxford when some of the drivers noticed a car driving erratically towards them veering across lanes.

The Duffys said the car narrowly avoided the truck at the top of the convoy, before it swerved and collided with ringmistress Candice Duffy’s vehicle. The car burst two of the caravan’s tyres, and drove off.

“A lot of things that are happening currently in the country at the moment we are exposed to,” said David Duffy, who has been a part of the circus since its foundation.

Unfortunately we were exposed [...] to this trend at the moment of cars driving down the wrong side of the road.

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“They drove in front of Tom who was leading the convoy, swung away from Tom, hit the ditch and then bounced back into the side of Tom and Candice’s caravan which Candice was driving with my granddaughter in it,” he said.

And burst both tyres and smashed all the side of the trailer and then they went off down a side road, took off the registration plates, and done a runner.

Candice Duffy said the incident was “very scary”, but that the circus staff remained calm.

“Yeah, it was scary,” she said.

But we were calm enough and we dealt with it and we were back on the road within an hour because we’re self-sufficient.

A local family from a nearby house assisted the circus in directing traffic and Candice Duffy said that the gardaí were contacted.

“The only reason we did a public statement was because it was causing obstruction and the driver fled the scene so we wanted to make sure the public were aware that we weren’t at fault for that obstruction being on the road and so we could get some assistance,” she said.

In a statement gardaí said:

“On 16 August 2026 shortly after 8.30pm, gardaí received a report of a material damage collision involving a lorry and car. The car failed to remain at the scene. No injuries were reported. Investigations remain ongoing.”

Duffy’s Circus are currently holding shows in Tyrrelstown Dublin 15.