Dillon Quirke

Dillon Quirke (28 February 1998 – 5 August 2022) was an Irish hurler who played for Tipperary Senior Championship club Clonoulty–Rossmore and at inter-county level with the Tipperary senior hurling team.

Early life

Born and raised in Rossmore, County Tipperary, Quirke's father, Dan Quirke, won an All-Ireland medal at under-21 level in All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Championship. He first played as a schoolboy in various juvenile competitions at Rossmore National School before later lining out as a student at Thurles CBS. Quirke lined out in all grades and was a member of the Thurles CBS senior team that beat St. Francis' College to win the Harty Cup in 2015, before losing the subsequent All-Ireland final to St. Kieran's College.

Club career

Quirke began his club career at juvenile and underage levels with Clonoulty–Rossmore. He won consecutive divisional championship titles with the club's minor team in 2014 and 2015, before winning a Tipperary U21AHC title after a defeat of Thurles Sarsfields in the final. Quirke scored two points from play when Clonoulty–Rossmore beat Nenagh Éire Óg in the 2018 Tipperary SHC final.

Inter-county career

Quirke began a two-year association with the Tipperary minor hurling team in advance of the Munster final defeat of Limerick, and again for the All-Ireland final defeat by Galway. Again eligible for the minor grade in 2016, Quirke won a second successive Munster MHC medal from the substitutes' bench after a 17-point defeat of Limerick in the Munster final. He later won an All-Ireland medal on the field after coming on as a substitute in the 1–21 to 0–17 defeat of Limerick.

After a year away from the inter-county scene, Quirke was called up to the Tipperary under-21 hurling team for the 2018 Munster U21HC. After lining out at left wing-back in Tipperary's 2–23 to 1–13 defeat by Cork in the Munster final, he was in the same position when the result was reversed and Tipperary beat Cork in the subsequent All-Ireland final.

Quirke was one of 12 under-21 players called up to the senior team's pre-season training panel in November 2018, however, he was later released from the panel. He was later recalled to the senior panel and made his first appearance in a 2–14 to 0–18 defeat by Limerick in round 1 of the 2020 National League. Later that season, Quirke made his championship debut when he came on as a 73rd-minute substitute for Jason Forde in an All-Ireland qualifier defeat of Cork. By 2022 he was a regular member of the starting fifteen and started all four games in Tipperary's unsuccessful Munster Championship campaign.

Death On 5 August 2022, Quirke collapsed while playing a Tipperary SHC match for his club against Kilruane MacDonaghs at Semple Stadium. The match was abandoned after he was taken to Tipperary University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Tipperary GAA postponed the weekend's matches as a mark of respect. President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins and Taoiseach Micheál Martin paid tribute. Tributes were also paid on television ahead of the camogie finals on 7 August. His funeral was held on 9 August in Clonoulty.

Career statistics

Honours

Thurles CBS Harty Cup: 2015

Clonoulty–Rossmore Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship: 2018 West Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship: 2016, 2017. 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 Tipperary Under-21A Hurling Championship: 2018 West Tipperary Minor A Hurling Championship: 2014, 2015

Tipperary All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Championship: 2018 All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship: 2016 Munster Minor Hurling Championship: 2015, 2016