RTÉ Sport has paid tribute to Dillon Quirke (24), the promising young GAA player who died after collapsing on the pitch during a match last Friday.
peaking on The Sunday Game ahead of yesterday’s All-Ireland Camogie Final, presenter Marie Crowe said they were taking a moment to remember the young man who tragically passed away while representing his Tipperary club, Clonoulty-Rossmore.
“He was a young man taken in the prime of his life, doing the thing that he loved, playing hurling,” she said.
He will be laid to rest tomorrow following a mass at noon in St John the Baptist Church in Clonoulty followed by burial in the adjoining cemetery.
Ms Crowe extended her sympathies to his parents Dan and Hazel and his sisters Shannon and Kellie, alongside his club mates and friends during what she described as an “unimaginably difficult time”.
Commentator Anna Geary said Dillon had been “taken far too young”.
“I think for a lot of people, it’s very hard to process it without even knowing him, so for everyone in Clonoulty-Rossmore, it’s just rocked them. He comes from a very close family and they’re just in disbelief because he was a huge personality in the club and a great leader on and off the pitch. It’s just devastating for them.
“I want to say my sincerest condolences to everyone who knew him, particularly his family and his friends.”
“The community and the GAA is just brilliant to rally around, and I’m sure they’ll do the same in Tipperary.”
Fellow commentator and Wexford Camogie star Ursula Jacob said: “It’s rocked everyone to the core. He had achieved so much at such a young age and he was an exceptional player and even listening to all the comments yesterday and the night before about how special of a man he was, it’s a credit to him and his family.”
All-Star winner Ann Marie Hayes described him as a “massive representation for the GAA”.
“To think a young man with a glittering career in the middle of it and one ahead of him, to be taken so soon, it just seems so unfair and our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends and the community today,” she said.