Born near Blackpool in Cork, Lyons first played competitive hurling during his schooling at the North Monastery. Here he was a key member of the college team that completed the final two stages of winning four successive Harty Cup titles. Immediately after leaving school, Lyons joined the Glen Rovers senior team. In a club career that spanned three decades he won ten county senior championship medals, serving as captain of the team on two occasions. As a Gaelic footballer with the Glen's sister club, St. Nicholas', he also won a county senior championship medal. Lyons retired from club hurling at the age of thirty-eight following the Glen's failure to secure a fourth successive championship in 1961.