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Ever since the development of Warrenpoint as a seaside town, the town has always strived to provide several sources of entertainment, from the Promenade, the Warrenpoint Municipal Park and the bandstand that resides within, as well as the local feis and amateur dramatics. However, with the seasonal events, there was also a need for entertainment, and that is where the funfair offers its service. The establishment of funfairs can be dated back to the 18th century where rides were powered using staff pulling ropes before the introduction of steamed powered attractions in the late 19th century elevated the experience and popularity of the funfairs.
Toft and Turnball originally occupied the square in Warrenpoint with their gondolas ride and paid the urban council £2 a week rent. However, in 1904 the council proposed a resolution prohibiting amusements on the Square despite a petition signed by 126 ratepayers asking for the decision to be reversed. It was reported in 1921 that J McGivern argued for having the amusements put back in the square by means of inviting Mr. Lyons from Omeath to perform with his show. By 1931, Thomas McGivern (who founded McGivern’s Amusements in 1920) would be asking permission to use the Square for his own amusements. During the summer months McGivern’s would travel to many counties in Ireland offering the funfair as a form of entertainment. They also took advantage of the lack of cinemas and held picture shows in the winter. Their main form of transportation was the stem engine, their most famous one being the Fowler engine known as the ‘Carry on’ which was bought in 1943. The engine was last used in the 1959 St Patrick's Day celebrations in Dublin (the last time it was in used at a funfair was in 1954 in Belfast.) The ‘Carry on’ tours at rallies and still has ‘McGivern’s Amusements on Tour’ written on it. The McGivern family suffered some setbacks in their business when a fire broke out in the stores in Warrenpoint, destroying their horse machine and the fairground organ. After the purchase of new attractions such as dodgems, chairoplanes, Noah’s Ark and side stalls, the business began to thrive and eventually became permanently based in the Warrenpoint square from May until September.
McGivern’s Funfair finished in 1981 and was succeeded by the Bell family who had been operating on a smaller scale. The amusements eventually came under the name of Dizzylands Funfair. In 2022, the Newry Democrat ran an article on the Bell family’s return to Warrenpoint after closing for two years during the Covid lockdowns. This marked the first time there was no funfair in Warrenpoint in a hundred years. The article made a point to highlight the head of the family, a Mrs Ina Bell as a proud, dedicated member of the family business, who at the time of the article and at 95 years of age was still working in the dodgems. The Dizzyland funfair is still in operation to this day providing entertainment for the many that visit Warrenpoint.
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Newry and Mourne Museum is open Tuesday – Saturday 10.00 am – 4.30 pm. Please call 0330 137 4422 or email museums@nmandd.org for further information.
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