Quirke family honoured to receive Hall of Fame Award from Tipperary Association Dublin

The President of the Tipperary Association Dublin Tom Sherlock presented the The Hall of Fame Award  for 2024 

 to Dan Quirke in recognition of his and his family's great work in setting up the

Dillon Quirke Foundation, at a function in Dublin on Saturday.

Mr. Sherlock congratulated the awardees and read the award citations as part of the

proceedings.

Hall of Fame Citation - Dan Quirke

This award recognises excellence and outstanding achievement by a Tipperary person in the

areas of Sport, Culture, Community Activity, Development, or Business. In fact over the full

spectrum of Human Activity.

It expresses the pride that all of us feel at the achievements of our own on the County, National

or World stage.

I stand here as a father and grandfather completely in awe of how Dan has turned the

the unimaginable tragedy of the death of his extremely talented and popular young son Dillon from

Sudden Adult Death Syndrome, while playing for their beloved Clonoulty-Rossmore, into an

incredible act of generosity, by setting up the Dillon Quirke Foundation to raise awareness of

the Syndrome and to provide and fund Cardiac Screening for young people [aged 12 to 18]

involved in sports.

Many people outside of Tipperary have probably only heard of Dan Quirke in the context of the

Dillon Quirke Foundation. Indeed, that is probably true of many of the younger generations in

Tipperary. But to those of us of a slightly older vintage we know him as a very talented hurler

and footballer.

He won six divisional minor and under-21 titles with his Clonoulty-Rossmore

club and an All-Ireland colleges title with Cashel CBS. Dan was still a minor when Clonoulty

won the West Tipperary and County Junior Football title in 1985 before securing the

Intermediate Football championship the following year. He won a further three West Tipp

football championship medals between 1991 and 1996 before winning his last West Tipp and

County Junior Football Championship with Clonoulty-Rossmore in the year 2000.

Dan played at inter-county level in both codes at Minor and under 21 levels. He also made a

number of appearances with the Tipperary Senior Football Team between 1991 and 1993. In

1989 Tipperary won the Munster and All-Ireland Under 21 Hurling Championship. They

defeated Offaly by 2 points in the All-Ireland final. Dan Quirke scored 3 goals and 2 points in

that game.

Later that year he was a member of the Clonoulty-Rossmore team that won the West

Tipperary and the County Senior Hurling Championships. What an enviable record on the GAA

scene.

Dan also ran a highly successful catering business with his family until they decided in 2000 to

dispose of the business. This decision has allowed him to dedicate more of his time to pursuing

the aims of the Dillon Quirke Foundation, which was formally launched here in Dublin earlier

this year.

It is a tribute to Dan’s commitment and powers of persuasion that he has people of the

calibre of Declan Ryan, Niall Quinn, and Declan Gleeson join the Board of the Foundation.

The Foundation is seen as an integral part of advancing Cardiovascular health within

communities, especially among younger participants in sports. I understand that in Italy where

screening is mandatory it has reduced deaths from Sudden Adult Death Syndrome by 80 %.

The Foundation has decided to start its programme with GAA clubs and will reach out to all

sports in all counties as funds and other resources allow. It set a target of 10,000 screenings in

2024 and as of September had completed 9,453 screenings in 210 clubs. No doubt the target has

been exceeded at this stage.

Dan Quirke is above all else a family man. The decision to establish the Dillon Quirke

Foundation was taken with his wife Hazel and his daughters Shannon and Kellie, who I know

he would wish to be associated with this award.

The foresight, resilience, commitment and generosity shown by Dan and his family in

channeling their loss and grief into a powerful force for good makes us all proud to say that we

too are from Tipperary.

For everything he has achieved in his life to date, especially for establishing the Dillon Quirke

Foundation, Dan Quirke is most worthy to be inducted into the Tipperary Association Dublin

Hall of Fame for 2024.

The Award is kindly sponsored by Willie Ahern, The Palace Bar, Dublin.