DILLON QUIRKE’S former coach paid tribute to him after guiding Thurles CBS to the Dr Harty Cup.
Niall Cahill engineered the Tipperary school to their ninth Dr Harty title with a 1-13 to 0-13 win over St Flannan’s College, Ennis on Saturday.
It came ten years after their last one in 2015, when Quirke was part of the team.
Dillon died of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome during a hurling match for his club Clonoulty-Rossmore at Semple Stadium in Thurles, Co Tipperary, in August 2022.
And speaking to the Irish Examiner, Cahill fought back tears to dedicate the cup to his former player.
He said: “We won here in 2015, Ronan Teehan was the captain. Dillon Quirke was corner-back the same day.
“There is a whole load of the lads sitting in Sydney at the moment in a pub having a barbeque celebrating, they couldn’t get home, they’re working.
“There’s lads all around the world. But Dillon couldn’t be there.
“I didn’t want to say anything to any of the boys all week, I put on his jersey from 2015 underneath my own today.
“I wanted him here. He helped us. He was something else.
“He is such a loss to Clonoulty, the school, everything. I didn’t want to burden the boys with anything about emotion.
“We had a picture inside in the dressing-room of Dillon. We don’t kind of allude to it or mention it but the boys know who he is.
“It’s for us and the staff and the people involved. Evelyn Heffernan works with us and two of her boys Enda and Ronan were playing in 2015, best of friends with Dillon.
“You just knew coming down there was something bigger happening.
“Just delighted to think of Dillon and to remember him on the day because he lived for Harty and just loved that medal so much.”
In the wake of Dillon’s untimely death, his dad set up the Dillon Quirke Foundation to help screen young people for cardiac issues.
And speaking back in January, he believes his son’s passing can help save countless other lives.
He told The Irish Sun: “I’ve heard dozens of stories from parents that ring to say, ‘we’re obviously very sad about what happened to you and your family, but you’ve now saved our child’.
“And so, what better story could one have to hear? To hear that is tremendous for us.
“It’s a big solace to me personally because we’re doing so much with the foundation.”
‘GREAT SHOCK’
On average, 100 young people in Ireland currently die each year from SADS — a much higher rate than that reported in other EU countries.
Since the foundation was established, they have had over 10,000 kids screened — and saved dozens of young lives.
Now Dillon’s father wants the screenings to be mandatory.
Dan explained: “It was a great shock to us all as a family.
“There was a huge outpouring of grief during the time of the funeral and so many people tried to help us.
“We didn’t know where we were going really, but I guess we just had to look into it to see.
“We only found out it was Sudden Adult Death Syndrome after. It took a couple of months to confirm. I suppose in a state of numbness, we were looking for answers. And we couldn’t get answers.
“So we just delved into Sudden Adult Death Syndrome ourselves and saw what it was about, worldwide.
“Unfortunately, in Ireland, there’s very little awareness about it.”
The foundation has carried out 10,128 cardiac screenings across Ireland in partnership with 275 sports clubs.
