The Tipperary GAA Discussion Thread

Feel sick with that news. Awful.

Know he had a history of myocarditis in the past. Unbelievably tragic whatever the cause.

Rip young man... This is so shocking and so sad... Condolences to his family, friends and to all his hurling and local communities

Terrible tragedy..such a young age..my thoughts are with all who knew him

Sincere sympathy to his Family, Clubmates etc. May he Rin Peace

Go soilsí solas na bhflaitheas orthu.

Community comes together for a vigil in Clonoulty.

Requiem Mass on Tuesday at 12 noon in St. John the Baptist Church, Clonoulty, followed by interment in the adjoining cemetery.

Messages of condolences may be left on EJGrey.com, by clicking here.

Dillon's Requiem Mass may be viewed live by clicking here.

A nice tribute from Timmy Hammersley - you really get a sense of how much Dillon was involved with Tipp hurling - right from the get go -

The former Tipperary and Clonoulty/Rossmore hurler Timmy Hammersley has spoken of the shock of losing Dillon Quirke after he collapsed during a club championship match in Semple Stadium on Friday evening.

Hammersley won a senior county medal with Quirke when they manned the central attacking positions in the county final against Eire Og, Nenagh, four years ago, ending a 21-year wait for the Dan Breen Cup to return to the parish.

“The big thing for me with Dillon is that innocence he had, the true love of playing, the true love of the club,” said an understandably emotional Hammersley. “It really came across. We trained together, we went to the gym together, we ran together, we did ball wall sessions together, along with others, there was a core group that trained really hard and Dillon was one of them.

“2018 was an unbelievable year for him. He won All-Ireland under-21 (with Tipp) and a county under-21, a first ever for Clonoulty, and senior county. He always had incredible talent but his work rate brought him to the next level, his dedication to training. And he never lost that innocent boyish attitude, he never did, and that’s what made him so beautiful and even when playing with the Tipperary team he was still that happy person, a gentle soul.

“I made a decision to transfer this year to Ballyboden St Enda’s, and it’s not about me, but I felt a deep hurt that I wasn’t on the field with him yesterday as well. Because for years and years I was on the field with him. And it’s tough to grasp that.

“We can exaggerate these things when someone passes on but there is no exaggeration in this case. He was a gentle soul, a gentle giant who really did treat people very well, no matter who they were. And I think it’s because of that attitude that he was so good at sport as well.”

Hammersley’s first memory of Quirke was as a young boy growing up in Clonoulty, taking part in the parish leagues. “You are talking about 20 years ago really. You would not find a more connected person in terms of Clonoulty/Rossmore GAA,” he said. Quirke’s father Dan, who won an All-Ireland under 21 medal in 1989, scoring 3-2 in the final against Offaly, is married to Hazel, whose sister Olive is the wife of Declan Ryan, the current Clonoulty/Rossmore manager.

Andrew Fryday, the club chairman and winner of county medals in 1997 and ’89 as a goalkeeper, is also a brother of Hazel and Olive. Declan Ryan’s sons Jack and Tommy are also on the current Clonoulty/Rossmore team.

“There was no one more deeply connected than he was, that’s how intense it is, and the influence that Dillon had,” said Hammersley.

The next standout memory he has of Quirke relates to ten years ago, when Delcan Ryan was Tipperary senior hurling manager. “Dillon was probably 11 or 12, he used to be at every Tipp training session with his uncle Declan, along with (cousin) Jack. And I mean probably every session.

“I remember one particular time, I was dropped from the squad but I was periodically brought back in to play training games and I’ve just one image of Dillon and it’s so clear, he saw me coming in down the tunnel and he saw that I was back in to do a bit of training, and I remember just how happy he was to see me, and I remember him shouting over to Jack that Timmy is back in training. I can’t get that image out of my head.

“And that innocence that he had and love of the game and love of sport, a very nice, talented individual, that innocence I just remember with that image - an innocence that was still with him, with him always, that was the beautiful thing about him.”

He said that Dillon Quirke was on the most successful underage side in the club, winning county titles at under-16, 16 and under-21. “Obviously people in a small rural club, they graduate onto senior level very quickly. Dillon made his senior debut in 2015 against Thurles Sarsfields in a quarter final, he came on, he would have been 16 going on 17.”

Playing centre forward in 2018, he was a key figure in helping the club win a first title since his father’s generation. “That was a special year and I am just glad Dillon got to experience it,” said Hammersley. “Like he was young, thrown in there centre forward but sure he absolutely embraced it. He scored two unbelievable sidelines. He had a massive influence on the match.”

Their last game together was against Thurles Sarsfields in Thurles in the county quarter finals in 2021. “I rang up Dillon afterwards - he was one of the first fellas I rang - I just told him that I wanted to give it a go in Dublin for a year or two and he wished me the best of luck. And he said, ‘don't forget about us and I know you will be down again’.

“Like I don’t know how they are going to cope, like in any tragedy, how do people cope? I don’t know. We just feel numb.”

Class. Classy gesture in London today too:

They should put Dillon's words up in Semple Stadium somewhere:

"I waited all my life for this, it's a dream come true."