The late Dillon Quirke represented the future for Tipperary hurling

Nothing in my lifetime has rocked the GAA world hereabouts quite like the passing of Dillon Quirke. It has been one of those harrowing moments that has deeply affected everyone. It seems such a corruption of the natural order that a vibrant 24-year-old - and a sporting star to boot - would leave us in such a manner. Suddenly the world is a darker place.
Being away on holiday lent a surreal aspect to events. One moment you’re enjoying yourself in a world of sunshine and sand and then the texts and messages start to ping on the phone. A match is abandoned after Dillon Quirke collapses. Immediately you recall Dillon’s health scare from a few years back and start to fear the worst while hoping for the best. Then the dreaded word arrives that Dillon has passed.
The sheer awfulness of it all stops people in their tracks. It seems senseless and you immediately understand where the absurdist philosophy of life springs from. You think of the line from King Lear: “As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods; they kill us for their sport”. Or Macbeth: “There’s nothing serious in mortality; all is but toys”.
The outpouring of sadness and compassion for the family has been extraordinary. We feel the loss deeply. Players like Dillon Quirke are part of our lives. We’ve watched them since their juvenile days; noted their progress and potential; cheered their victories; dissected their defeats. They represent us. They are part of the architecture of our lives and so we feel the loss on a personal level.
Dillon should have been a core part of Tipperary’s future. His emerging career was something of a slow burner. He was there at minor level for two years, not exactly a star turn but good enough to be part of panels that contested successive All-Irelands, winning the second when he came in as a substitute.
Two years later at Under 21 he’d stepped up several levels, now part of Liam Cahill’s team which overturned a huge Munster final deficit to shock Cork in the All-Ireland final. Dillon was wing back, Cahill’s placing of the Clonoulty/Rossmore lad a signpost to the future.
Then onto senior ranks, where initially he was seen as a forward. The health issue stalled development temporarily. Like most players the progress wasn’t straight line. There were humps and bumps along the way, a good display not always backed up the next day. Such is the experience of many players, as the rigours of elite senior hurling require learning and adjustment.
But the progress was incremental. With his club he was becoming the fulcrum of events in the number eleven jersey, increasingly assuming a role occupied for so many years by his uncle-in-law, Declan Ryan. Often there was a sense that if Dillon didn’t click Clonoulty and Rossmore were in some bother.
With the county his forward role was coming more into question with the player himself, perhaps, feeling that half back was a more natural fit for his game. His confidence seemed to dip at times before Colm Bonnar arrived and the move back to number five seemed to be the key which finally unlocked the full potential.
By now he was finding his mojo. Physically the development was obvious but his game too was acquiring a harder edge. He clearly relished the physical jostling, and with his size and athleticism and skillset he could match the Limericks of the hurling world. He had finally arrived.
As a former forward he fitted the bill of the modern wing back, pacy and able to defend but also with scoring potential. He might well have become the Diarmaid Byrnes or the Barry Nash of Tipperary.
Individual items from his sadly short career stand out. Like his man of the match display in a league game against Waterford, when he scored four points. His boyish excitement afterwards was a delight to see. Or that great hook on Kyle Hayes in this year’s championship, reminiscent of JJ Delaney’s hook on Seamus Callanan or John McGrath’s on Colin Fennelly. Frozen items now in the catalogue of memories but emblematic of a player with that X factor, one gradually building towards greatness.
One certainty is that he represented the future for Tipperary hurling. The best was surely yet to come before fate so cruelly ended it all.
His loss is major to Tipperary and immense to Clonoulty/Rossmore. But all of that, of course, is as nothing beside the terrible devastation his passing brings to his family and friends. He was fun-loving and hurling-mad and the tributes in his honour have been many and generous. Our hurling world is diminished by his passing and, feeble as it is, we can only offer our heartfelt sympathy to his devastated family and friends. He’s gone but certainly won’t be forgotten.
In the past week it seemed as if the world stalled, as we tried to comprehend the incomprehensible but, as always, life goes on and this coming weekend sees the clash of the ash return to the playing venues of the county. The mood will be sombre, maybe even eerie.
The most poignant fixture was to have been the re-match of Clonoulty/Rossmore and Kilruane MacDonaghs, a game which the competitions committee had wisely taken out of the Stadium and relocated to The Ragg. However, there’s been a late change, with that game deferred and instead the round 3 games in group 1 are now going ahead this weekend.
I can’t even imagine how Declan Ryan will be able to refocus his Clonoulty/Rossmore side and get them ready for action without their talisman. I guess the war cry will be to “do it for Dillon.”
This group 1 is delicately poised. Clonoulty already drew with Nenagh but the big shock result was Moycarkey’s win over the same Eire Og side. The mid team was rebounding from a heavy defeat by Kilruane in the opening game. In the revamped fixtures Clonoulty now face Moycarkey in a must-win game while Kilruane face Nenagh Eire Og in what is a most attractive looking all-north tie.

In Pictures: Tipperary hurling legends come out of retirement for charity match v Limerick

In group 2 there are two key games on the menu, with much at stake. The meeting of Drom/Inch and Thurles Sarsfields at the Stadium (live on TG4) is a top of the table clash, after both sides won their opening ties. Ronan Maher’s loss to Sarsfields is major so this should be a day when Drom might fancy their chances.
The second game, however, is really crucial to the survival of both Templederry and Borris-Ileigh. Borris were hugely disappointing in the opening bout against Sarsfields, while the Kenyons fell heavily to Drom. This then is a do or die type of contest, where I’d expect a big performance from the 2019 champions.
In group 3 Upperchurch are sitting pretty at the top of the pile following big wins over Mullinahone and Holycross. The only game here is the second round tie of Toomevara and Holycross, both badly in need of a win to keep their chances of qualification alive.
Finally, in group 4 everything has still to be decided following the first round matches, where Kiladangan drew with Loughmore and there was also stalemate between Annacarty and JK Brackens. This time Eire Og face off against Kiladangan and Brackens play Loughmore, the latter game the first of two live TG4 matches from the Stadium on Sunday.
Overall, the Tipperary championship has seldom been as open, with no clear fancy emerging as yet. Kiladangan have replaced Sarsfields as the overall favourites, with Kilruane the third fancy followed by Borris-Ileigh, Loughmore and Drom/Inch. You’ll get odds of 10/1 on Loughmore retaining their title. Many clubs have been hit by injuries and others just dipping in form. It’s been a strange campaign so far, with a mixture of draws and surprising margins. Maybe the coming weekend will produce a truer picture.
Finally, the managerial merry-go-round is in full swing, with Davy returning to the Deise and the rumour mill linking the Sheedy/O’Shea combination with Offaly - whether gossip or gospel remains to be seen on that one. And each time a manager retires we’re told it’s because of work commitments and family and travel demands. Yet, in a twinkling, work and family and travel become irrelevant and off they jog once again.
Many years ago Ger Loughnane claimed that the only reason you’d manage a county other than your own was for money. He then broke his own rule, of course, by going to Galway. As with a lot of utterances from Ger there’s a slice of truth in his statement. But there’s also another factor at play: these guys just love the buzz of involvement and I wish more of them would simply admit the addiction.