Ex-wife of bare-knuckle boxer and convicted killer speaks of horrific abuse
Ellen Joyce described in an episode of the Mental Health and Me podcast how she a was 'living in hell' after getting married as a teenager.
Asked by host Jenna McCuskey how she met her husband, Ellen said: 'This is quite embarrassing... my ex would have been my first cousin. My da and my ex's da are two brothers.'
Within weeks of being married 'he started getting violent'.
'It went from slaps and thumps to actually start using machine chains, wires or whips. I have scars all over my body. I had broken fingers, he broke my hands three times on different occasions.'
Joe 'hairy back' Joyce in action during his bare-knuckle boxing days
.
'To stop his mother being upset he'd take me away and drop me down farmlands. He'd have plenty of room to beat me and I'd have nowhere to hide.'
Beaten and stripped Ellen then would be left there 'two to three hours sometimes it could be more.'
She said he would tell that her that his hands were 'too good' for her and instead beat her with whatever objects came to hand.
While pregnant with her first child she started going into labour after one attack and was left alone in hospital.
At one stage she was hit with a horse whip while she had a child in her arms.
'I was living in hell.'
Ms McCuskey was in tears as Ellen described how she had six children, but one daughter died of a heart condition when she was two and half years old and another boy was stillborn in 2020.
Abusive
The beginning of the end of their abusive marriage began in April 2020 when Joe Joyce Jnr hit John Paul McDonagh (18) with a long-handled slash on the leg near his Enniskillen home.
Joe Joyce with Ellen before she divorced him while he was in prison
The young man died as a result of his injury and in June 2022 Joyce was convicted of murder and ordered that he serve a minimum ten years of a life sentence.
A video of the incident went viral on social media which podcast host Jenna said included a lot of messages of support for him.
Ellen explained: 'He's a bare-knuckle boxer and people look up to him, treated like a lord over him having a name in bare knuckle boxing.'
Ellen continued to support her husband during the trial and was vocally supportive of him but behind the scenes she knew she wanted out. After moving to the north they were separated more often.
'I wanted a different life for me and my boys.'
'When he was in prison he was giving me nothing but abuse, he could phone me from seven in the morning until ten at night.'
Joe Joyce Junior wielding a slash hook in an attack against victim John Paul McDonagh
After he had been sentenced she told him that she wanted a divorce saying that she wanted a normal life but that he found it hard to accept.
As a result she said she was shunned by a lot of people when it became known they had divorced.
The control exerted by Joyce over his wife was previously heard in court evidence when Ellen would play down the violence, blame herself or suggest injuries were caused by something else.
In February 2016, Joe Joyce got suspended sentence in Tullamore Circuit Court after he was convicted of hitting Ellen in a garda station which was caught on CCTV.
The judge in Tullamore, who had seen the footage from the garda station of her being hit described it as a savage attack by a thug and a bully.
At the time, Ellen told the court she accepted her husband's apology and said she was happy with him and their four children and said that a cut on her head that night was from a previous injury.
Joe Joyce had previously been jailed for two and a half years for attacking his wife between October 2009 and April 2010 in Westmeath.
Swinging
A garda had seen Joyce swinging a phone charger at her head while she held a baby in her arms.
Ellen, then still in her teens, was also bleeding where he had stuck keys into her head but she refused to apply for a safety order and asked officers to leave.
Joe and Ellen together before he was jailed for murder
On another occasion when Ellen did go to a refuge he turned up with a scaffolding pole threatening her and a staff member.
She left the house because she didn't want it to be damaged, it was heard in court.
Now living in Derry she said she told Jenna McCuskey in the podcast she feels safe there and has a lot of support and where she has found her 'happy soul.'
'Since I've left my marriage and walked away, I'm just completely living a stress-free life.'
She hopes when her children are older that she will work in the cosmetics business and she already has almost 30,000 followers on her TikTok account.
Ellen Joyce and Joe Joyce Jr
Today's News in 90 Seconds - July 27th
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Sunday World
2 days ago
- Sunday World
Ex-wife of bare-knuckle boxer and convicted killer speaks of horrific abuse
Mum reveals how boxer husband beat and whipped her before he was jailed for murder Ellen Joyce described in an episode of the Mental Health and Me podcast how she a was 'living in hell' after getting married as a teenager. Asked by host Jenna McCuskey how she met her husband, Ellen said: 'This is quite embarrassing... my ex would have been my first cousin. My da and my ex's da are two brothers.' Within weeks of being married 'he started getting violent'. 'It went from slaps and thumps to actually start using machine chains, wires or whips. I have scars all over my body. I had broken fingers, he broke my hands three times on different occasions.' Joe 'hairy back' Joyce in action during his bare-knuckle boxing days . 'To stop his mother being upset he'd take me away and drop me down farmlands. He'd have plenty of room to beat me and I'd have nowhere to hide.' Beaten and stripped Ellen then would be left there 'two to three hours sometimes it could be more.' She said he would tell that her that his hands were 'too good' for her and instead beat her with whatever objects came to hand. While pregnant with her first child she started going into labour after one attack and was left alone in hospital. At one stage she was hit with a horse whip while she had a child in her arms. 'I was living in hell.' Ms McCuskey was in tears as Ellen described how she had six children, but one daughter died of a heart condition when she was two and half years old and another boy was stillborn in 2020. Abusive The beginning of the end of their abusive marriage began in April 2020 when Joe Joyce Jnr hit John Paul McDonagh (18) with a long-handled slash on the leg near his Enniskillen home. Joe Joyce with Ellen before she divorced him while he was in prison The young man died as a result of his injury and in June 2022 Joyce was convicted of murder and ordered that he serve a minimum ten years of a life sentence. A video of the incident went viral on social media which podcast host Jenna said included a lot of messages of support for him. Ellen explained: 'He's a bare-knuckle boxer and people look up to him, treated like a lord over him having a name in bare knuckle boxing.' Ellen continued to support her husband during the trial and was vocally supportive of him but behind the scenes she knew she wanted out. After moving to the north they were separated more often. 'I wanted a different life for me and my boys.' 'When he was in prison he was giving me nothing but abuse, he could phone me from seven in the morning until ten at night.' Joe Joyce Junior wielding a slash hook in an attack against victim John Paul McDonagh After he had been sentenced she told him that she wanted a divorce saying that she wanted a normal life but that he found it hard to accept. As a result she said she was shunned by a lot of people when it became known they had divorced. The control exerted by Joyce over his wife was previously heard in court evidence when Ellen would play down the violence, blame herself or suggest injuries were caused by something else. In February 2016, Joe Joyce got suspended sentence in Tullamore Circuit Court after he was convicted of hitting Ellen in a garda station which was caught on CCTV. The judge in Tullamore, who had seen the footage from the garda station of her being hit described it as a savage attack by a thug and a bully. At the time, Ellen told the court she accepted her husband's apology and said she was happy with him and their four children and said that a cut on her head that night was from a previous injury. Joe Joyce had previously been jailed for two and a half years for attacking his wife between October 2009 and April 2010 in Westmeath. Swinging A garda had seen Joyce swinging a phone charger at her head while she held a baby in her arms. Ellen, then still in her teens, was also bleeding where he had stuck keys into her head but she refused to apply for a safety order and asked officers to leave. Joe and Ellen together before he was jailed for murder On another occasion when Ellen did go to a refuge he turned up with a scaffolding pole threatening her and a staff member. She left the house because she didn't want it to be damaged, it was heard in court. Now living in Derry she said she told Jenna McCuskey in the podcast she feels safe there and has a lot of support and where she has found her 'happy soul.' 'Since I've left my marriage and walked away, I'm just completely living a stress-free life.' She hopes when her children are older that she will work in the cosmetics business and she already has almost 30,000 followers on her TikTok account. Ellen Joyce and Joe Joyce Jr Today's News in 90 Seconds - July 27th
Irish Daily Mirror
13-07-2025
- Irish Daily Mirror
'Nobody threatens my family, I don't care... so I've done what I've done'
A member of one of Manchester's most well-known Traveller families has said he doesn't 'regret anything' after being released from prison following a vicious assault on a pensioner in a pub in the Northern Quarter area of the city two years ago. Dougie Joyce was jailed in November 2023 after admitting repeatedly punching the 78-year-old victim in the back room of a Thomas Street pub in the city. After he was sent down for 19 months for GBH, police described him as an 'aggressive and violent man who intended to intimidate and inflict pain on a vulnerable 78-year-old,' reports The Manchester Evening News. CCTV showed the then 35-year-old, who was wearing a large gold ring, launch the sickening attack before encouraging his dad to join in. But in an interview with the Criminal Connection podcast released this week, the businessman and former bare-knuckle boxer said he had no regrets. "I never regret anything I do in life," he told host Terry Stone. "I regret being in that situation. But I don't regret anything I do because everything I do is for a reason." Describing the vicious assault as 'just one of them moments inside of a pub', he said the victim had insulted his father John Joyce, who was given a community order for his part in the attack, and 'threatened his family'. Joyce added: "The bottom line of the story is my father knocked him spark out 35 years ago. That was it. "But what it was, he was holding a grudge against my father. He's obviously not got over it. There was a little bit of commotion. And then he got very abusive coming out with his name calling and then he just took it one step too far. "He threatened my family. Nobody threatens my family. I don't care who you are. Obviously I've got drink in my system and I'm an alpha male and the thing is I'll always protect my family. "So, I've done what I've done and at the end of the day, I've paid the price, been to jail. It's the past. I put it behind me. It is what it is." Joyce also told how he was arrested at Dublin Airport following the attack. And he boasted of being being asked for selfies and autographs while serving his sentence in Strangeways and Forest Bank. "It was plain sailing," he said of his time in prison. "Just kept my head down, got on with it, done my gym, met a few nice fellas in there. I know a lot of people anyways from inside out and there was no issues whatsoever." The infamous hardman, who appeared in the The Joyce Family Documentary on Amazon and reportedly turned down a role in Channel 4's My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding to become 'the next Tyson Fury', has several convictions for violence. In May last year, he was jailed for 13 months after a feud between the Joyces and members of the Doherty family exploded in violence at a wake at The Vine pub in Collyhurst in inner city Manchester. Last month, he was in the headlines again after posing with Liz Truss to promote his new line of whiskey. In a clip shared on his Instagram page, Joyce hands the former PM a bottle of the spirit saying, 'Just remember - Dougie Joyce loves ya', with Truss then adding 'Liz Truss loves you'. The Irish Mirror's Crime Writers Michael O'Toole and Paul Healy are writing a new weekly newsletter called Crime Ireland. Click here to sign up and get it delivered to your inbox every week
Sunday World
24-06-2025
- Sunday World
‘Filthy ball of wool' – Owner of dog left without food or water is spared jail
A vet gave evidence stating, "It was difficult to differentiate its head from its tail' A dog owner whose pet bichon frise was left like a filth-ridden "ball of wool", drinking drain water and sleeping among used medical needles has been spared jail. Thomas Joyce of Cloonmore Road, Jobstown, Tallaght, Dublin 24, was summonsed on charges under the Animal Health and Welfare Act for the neglect of his dog named Partner. However, he failed to appear at his hearing in Dublin District Court, was convicted in absentia, fined €500 and prohibited from owning an animal for five years by Judge Anthony Halpin yesterday/today. A vet gave evidence stating, "It was difficult to differentiate its head from its tail.' Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA) inspector Shane Lawlor told Judge Halpin that Partner lived in "deplorable" conditions and was heavily matted when Joyce was questioned on February 22 last year. The animal welfare inspector said he received a call that the dog was living in poor conditions and was in a poor physical state. He spoke to Joyce, who showed him the male dog whose coat was matted so heavily it was hurting. "It was very disorientating; he could not see properly at all, was walking in circles, walking into the wall and was quite aggressive to handle." The dog also had an open wound on its back side, and "he had no resting area at all." Photo evidence was handed into court. They revealed Partner was left living in a shed full of rubbish and dozens of used medical needles by diabetic Joyce. His only drink was dirty drain water, and there was no food either; his skin was inflamed. Partner, who was not microchipped, was seized and has since been treated and re-homed. Photo: DSPCA The court heard Joyce agreed the conditions were unacceptable. Asked by the inspector why he did not bring the dog for care, he said he was embarrassed and owned up that he could not give the necessary care to his pet. DSPCA veterinary director Elise O'Byrne White confirmed the poor condition of the animal's faecal and urine-stained coat. The dog's back and belly skin were inflamed, and it had external parasites. She believed Partner was in a state of discomfort due to the severe matting. "It was difficult to differentiate its head from its tail' Commenting on the photo evidence, Judge Halpin described the dog as a poor animal and "like a big ball of wool, you can't see a head or legs or anything". The offences could have resulted in a €5,000 fine and six months imprisonment. Finalising the case, he noted that the man told the inspector he was ashamed and let his dog be taken. Setting the fine at €500, to be paid within six months, he explained he had considered the conditions the accused was living in and inferred he was not of huge means. Photo: DSPCA News in 90 Seconds - June 24th
