Portobello Book Blog

Sharing #TenThings about himself today is Irish author and circus perfomer Ronan Brady. Further down the post, you can watch him in action. He reveals his love for Tunnocks teacakes and his sporting success in Gaelic Football. His autobiographical work Worlds Apart is available now and you can order your copy here: Worlds Apart My thanks to Kelly at Love Books Tours for inviting me to take part in the blogtour.

• In an attempt to categorise myself, I am an Irish circus artist, coach, public speaker and author 🙂

• In a previous life I was an secondary school teacher, teaching engineering to second level pupils between the ages of 12 and 18. At about the age of 26, after 5 years of teaching, I decided to try pursuing other things. I had found myself advising students to pursue passion projects and things they were interested in as careers, instead of the ‘safe steady job’. Yet here I was, doing the exact thing I was advising others against and was somewhat of a hypocrite. I decided to take action and head in a freelance direction.

• Tunnocks Tea Cakes are my absolute kryptonite. I kid you not, if I eat one, I eat the whole box. Their filling falls somewhere between cream and marshmallow and it’s the perfect consistency. If you haven’t had one, approach with caution.

• While I had been a teacher, I was also an Intercounty footballer for Roscommon. For the internationals, Gaelic football is one of Irelands national sports. I was representing my county, (which would be equivalent to representing a state in America) and despite it being an amateur sport, it is professional in every other way barring name and actually getting paid. This was my life more than teaching was, and one of the main reasons I became a teacher, was to facilitate my football career. I spent the portion of my life from 15 to 25 focused on my footballing career culminating in Connacht title win in 2010. A year-long injury two years later forced/allowed me to change perspectives, direction and focus.

• I have scars on my body from accidents I had as a kid. One is on my forehead where when playing a kids game we liked to call ‘train’ I flew off the end of said train with such speed and velocity I ran headfirst into a pepple-dashed pump house. I also have a scar on my shin where I was dragged by a horse I had just fallen off and refused to let go of (don’t ask), through some recently felled trees and one managed to lodge itself in my shinbone. (I let go after that)

• With my body dinged up quite a bit from football, I spent my injured year looking at rehabilitation and ways in which I could continue to be physical but also enhance my body, not diminish it as football seemed to be doing. This is how I found circus. Circus taught me the importance of looking after and caring for my body and not treat is as a consumable for my sport.

• I love conversations and hearing other people’s stories. I can be guilty of going to events/places and spending more time talking to absolute strangers I’ve just bumped into than the good friends I’ve gone to the place with. Sometimes I like to sit outside coffee shops watching people pass by and ponder their thoughts , lives and stories.

• My circus career has allowed me to circumnavigate the glove. In a show called ‘Riot’ We flew Dublin – Sydney – Melbourne –  New York – Dublin. Despite spending a month in Australia and a week in New York, we managed to beat Phileas Fogg’s time.

• I grew up on a farm with 6 brothers and sisters in rural Roscommon. We went to a small national school of less that 30 pupils. I remember being scared for secondary school as there was nearly 100 pupils in it and was afraid I wouldn’t remember everybody’s name. I had no idea of the scale of the world at all. Coming from such a humble upbringing, I love experiencing the world, seeing other countries and experiencing other cultures.  

• Some of the greatest joy I’ve had in life has been the work I’ve created from scratch and put out into the world as gifts to be enjoyed. Creations I’ve poured my heart and soul into, such as this book Worlds Apart, or my circus shows How to Square a Circle and Sub Rosa. None however, have been solo projects and none would have been started, developed or completed if wasn’t for a vast network of family, friends, collaborators, and mentors. I thank you all so much and cannot thank you enough.

From the back of the book

‘Ronan is emblematic of how Ireland has changed.’ – Panti Bliss  

At just under six foot in his socks and weighing in at fourteen stone, Ronan Brady is a solid slab of rarest Roscommon meat. He has a natural tendency to throw himself about – some would say recklessly, others would say enthusiastically – into whatever he sets himself to. Ronan had a ‘normal’ childhood in Roscommon and knew by the time he was a teenager that when he grew up he wanted to play football for his county and become a teacher. Ronan had achieved his life ambition when he took up ‘Flying’ as a hobby. A hobby that transformed his life and took him to heights he never dreamed of, performing in the smash hit show Riot alongside Panti Bliss, and going on to tour the world. Worlds Apart is an open, humorous account of Ronan’s life journey,

More about the Author

Ronan Brady is a physical performer, aerialist and hoop artist who is recognised internationally for his expertise with the Cyr wheel. He is a native of Roscommon, where he was a teacher and played intercounty football, before embarking on his stage career.

Website – https://www.ronanbrady.me/