CIARÁN JOYCE can still feel the force of the shuddering shoulder that served as a rite of passage when he first joined Cork’s senior panel.
Yet while rubbing shoulders with hurling’s elite, the Castlemartyr youngster has repeatedly proven that he is at home at the highest level.
He recalled: “I actually did damage to my shoulder – Alan Cadogan gave me a shoulder and I’ll never forget it.
“It was a real wake-up call, those first few weeks, but I think your body gets used to it after a while. Those first two or three months are rough but you adapt to it.”
At 22, Joyce is already looking ahead to his fourth season with Cork.
Alongside the likes of newly-minted All-Stars Eoin Downey and Shane Barrett, he is one of the most successful graduates of the sides that won the 2020 and 2021 All-Ireland Under-20 titles.
Joyce marked his senior debut with 0-3 from midfield in a 2022 National League win against Clare. He ended that year as one of three Cork players to be nominated for an All-Star.
A Young Hurler of the Year nominee in 2023, the MTU student has made the 45-man All-Star shortlist in each of his three seasons so far.
The pace at which he discarded the learner plates to become a driving force for the Rebels exceeded even his own expectations.
Joyce said: “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.”
Joyce is now a key component of a Cork team who will enter the new year in the hope of ending the county’s longest-ever wait for All-Ireland SHC glory.
They came agonisingly close to doing so in July, only to suffer a one-point loss to Clare in an epic final that required extra-time to determine a winner.
There was controversy at the death when Robbie O’Flynn’s attempt to fashion an equalising point went wide as a foul on the Cork forward by Conor Leen was not whistled by ref Johnny Murphy.
But Joyce insisted: “If that happened in the first few minutes of the game, no one would have been talking about it. That’s the way hurling goes, that’s the way every sport goes. They’re the small margins.
“On the day, I suppose you could say Clare were the better team and we can’t have any complaints. We’ll use it as motivation for next year too as well.”
With elder statesmen like Séamus Harnedy and Patrick Horgan likely to return for another season in red, Joyce is optimistic about Cork’s prospects in 2025.
He said: “I think there’s a good blend there – us young fellas take a lot of learnings from the older fellas. They’ve been there a very long time, the likes of Séamie and Hoggie to name just a few.
“We can take a lot of learnings from this year, especially after the first two games – that’s where we really kickstarted our year. We hopefully want to take that momentum into next year now.”
CIARÁN JOYCE was speaking to promote the benefit match between Waterford and Cork at Fraher Field on January 4 (5pm).
The event is being held in aid of Waterford Hospice and former Déise hurler Brian Greene, who is currently undergoing cancer treatment.
