One of the stars of this year’s Traitors Ireland has revealed an unexpected connection to Galway GAA, after Saoirse Joyce announced her engagement to former Galway footballer Niall Daly.
Joyce, 29, is an HR specialist from Galway and is currently one of the Faithfuls on the hit RTÉ series, which has already turned audiences’ heads after its opening three episodes of the new series.
But away from the castle, Joyce has been in a relationship with former Galway footballer Daly for 11 years.
The couple announced their engagement earlier this year, with Joyce sharing the news on Instagram after Daly proposed at the Gap of Dunloe in Kerry.
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Daly, a Kilconly club man, was part of the Galway football panel that reached the 2022 All-Ireland final and made a late substitute appearance in the defeat to Kerry. He remained involved with the county panel until 2024 and continues to play with Kilconly in the Galway Intermediate Football Championship.
The pair met while studying at NUI Galway, now University of Galway, and have been together for more than a decade.
Speaking about the proposal at the time, Daly said there had been an expectation that the question might be coming, but he believed Joyce was caught completely off guard by the proposal in Kerry.
The couple have yet to set a wedding date, although Daly previously said they would both like to get married abroad.
Joyce’s connection to Galway GAA adds another sporting link to this year’s The Traitors Ireland cast.
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It was previously revealed that fellow contestant Sam Omukoro played midfield for the Westmeath minors in a Leinster final in 2013.
Meanwhile, former Leitrim captain Donal Casey has also found himself at the centre of the drama in the castle.
During Tuesday night’s episode, Casey came under suspicion from his fellow Faithfuls, with some of his anxiety attributed to the isolation he experienced while recovering from a serious neck injury sustained in last year’s Leitrim SFC final.
At the end of Tuesday night’s episode, the Traitors, Fionula, Carla and Páraic, were left choosing between three potential murder victims: Saoirse, Aoife and Ian.
Viewers will have to wait until Sunday’s episode to discover whether Joyce survives the night and whether the Faithfuls continue to wrongly suspect Donal.
