Cirel was by profession a transport driver for Cardiff Corporation, self-taught as an artist. Around 1920 he began showing his work locally, then showed with SWG, Royal National Eisteddfod, SEA, in the English provinces and RA. WAC gave him a retrospective in 1953. It holds his work, as does the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, in Swansea, and the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff. Cirel died in Cardiff.