20-07-2025
Cork hurler Ciaran Joyce's day job and well-known GAA family off the pitch
Ciaran Joyce might be youthful, but he's already established himself as a formidable presence in GAA circles.
The Cork hurler, hailing from Castlemartyr, operates as a centre-back and initially made his mark whilst representing Midleton CBS as a student.
He's now an indispensable figure for Cork's senior squad - hardly shocking given his family's deep GAA connections.
Here's everything you need to discover about his existence both on and off the field. Age
Ciaran was born in 2002, making him 23 years old. Club career
Ciaran played at juvenile and underage levels with Kiltha Óg.
He first appeared on Castlemartyr's adult team in 2020 and is also a member of the Imokilly divisional team, based in East Cork. Inter-county career
Ciaran debuted for his native county as part of the minor team in 2019. The following year, he immediately progressed to the under-20 team.
In 2022, Ciaran made his senior debut for Cork.
He previously told the Irish Sun: "When I was first called in, I was like, 'If I make the match-day panel, I'll be happy.'
"When I started training and playing a few matches then, I was making my way up and up. Then I was in the starting 15 and I was thinking, 'I might actually be in with a shout here.'
"I just worked my way from there, took it training by training, match by match and luckily I found my way into the starting 15 that year." Day job
Ciaran recently completed an agriculture degree course at MTU and hopes to have a career in dairy farming.
He currently works alongside his father Carey on their family farm in East Cork.
"I love it. There are no days off there. [His dad] won't give you any days off. It keeps me grounded anyway," he told
"I'll farm for the rest of the summer anyway and I'll look into maybe getting a job there at the end of the year.
"But in the future, I do hope to go home dairy farming. That's the plan anyway.
"It's not conducive to training but I'm lucky now my dad is fit and healthy and he's able to go milking. But any time I'm around, I do go milking." GAA family
GAA is a big part of the Joyce household, particularly hurling.
Ciaran's grandfather, Dan Joe Joyce, won a Harty Cup with St Colman's of Fermoy in 1948. His father Carey won the cup with Midleton CBS in 1988 while Ciaran won it himself in 2019.
Carey coached his son at Kiltha Óg and is also club chairman for Castlemartyr.
However, the father and son don't spend all of their time talking about sport.
Ciaran told the Irish Examiner: "We actually try and talk as little as possible about hurling. He's very good like that. He's a big GAA man, but with that, he realises it's important to keep my eyes off hurling for a good while."
Ciaran's younger brother Darragh plays hurling for Kiltha Óg, Castlemartyr and Midleton CBS, while sister Aoibhe plays Gaelic football with Inch Rovers.
