“The closest Western Civilisation has come to unity since the Congress of Vienna in 1815 was the week the Sgt. Pepper album was released.”
– Langdon Winner
It is 200 years since the foundation stone for Dún Laoghaire harbour was laid, and 50 since the release Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by the Beatles.
The iconic Peter Blake designed cover of Sgt. Pepper features Irish writers Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw and James Joyce, and as we mentioned in the last feature about their stay in Dún Laoghaire’s Royal Marine hotel, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.
The closing track on side one of Sgt. Pepper (almost redundant in the streaming age) is called ‘Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite’
John Lennon wrote it after buying a 19th-century circus poster for Pablo Fanque’s Circus Royal in an antique ship in Sevenoaks (pictured with Lennon above) when the band were recording videos for ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ and ‘Penny Lane’ nearby.
Pablo Fanque, whose real name was William Darby, was the first non-white circus master in Britain. His circus was the most popular in Victorian Britain. Pablo’s show was the hottest ticket in town for nearly 30 years during the golden age of the big top. Indeed, Fanque enjoyed a longer career than the Beatles themselves.
Fanque’s circus came to Ireland in the summer of 1850, kicking off an extensive tour with some equestrian events at Portobello Gardens, followed by six nights in a music hall on Abbey Street, the very same street where the Beatles played their only Irish show on November 7, 1963.
After these engagements in Portobello and Abbey Street, Pablo Fanque brought his circus to Dún Laoghaire, then called Kingstown.
An advert placed in The Freeman’s Journal on June 17th, 1850 read: “Mons. P.F. feels a pleasure in announcing to the inhabitants of KINGSTOWN, that he has made arrangements to give THREE GRAND DAY AND EVENING FETES on THURSDAY, June 20th; FRIDAY, 21st: and SATURDAY, 22nd, in a splendid Mammoth Marquee erected in GLASTHULE TERRACE, capable of holding Two Thousand persons at one time.” The ad also lists further Irish dates in Clonmel, Carlow, Kilkenny, Waterford and Tipperary, and concluding with “a short season” in Limerick.
Fanque is also mentioned in the song ‘Ritz’ by the band Cockney Rebel in addition to the Beatles classic, inspiring popular culture a full century after his death.
The Waterford News carried this review of Pablo’s circus on July 12, 1850:
Bray is another seaside town located further south on the DART line from Dún Laoghaire. In the 1950s and 1960s, Bray became a very popular seaside resort, especially amongst Liverpudlians, as Liverpool was a short cruise across the Irish sea. Bray’s bandstand regularly hosted performances from a group called Sergeant Pepper’s Big Brass Band.
While it is just local speculation, there appears to be some credence to the theory that the Bray bandstand house band partially inspired the best known album of all time. David McWilliams informs me that Wayne Rooney’s Grandmother honeymooned in Bray, adding more weight to the story.
Next time you stroll around Dún Laoghaire, Glasthule or any Irish town that hosted Pablo’s show, remember that thousands of people once gathered here in the summer of 1850 to watch the most famous circus of its day, which later influenced the most famous band of all time to immortalise it in song.
The Dublin Beatles Festival takes place around the anniversary of their Adelphi show in early November. Like and follow them on Facebook here for details.
Duffy’s Circus runs at Dún Laoghaire Harbour until Sunday, October 8. Details here.
‘Being for the Benefit for Mr. Kite’ is included on an NME feature on the most underrated John Lennon songs here.
Tales from the East Pier 
Great article, I’ve always loved that album especially that song and now to hear he played so close to where i live, well it just all brings it all back home really.
Really good, informative piece. The link of PF, the Beatles and Dublin was a real treat.