After the final whistle went a fortnight ago in Croke Park, Dan and Hazel Quirke turned to each other and cried. How could they not? Tipperary had made it to an All-Ireland final and it was only natural that their first thought was for their son Dillon. These were his team-mates, this was his team. If he was alive, he’d be there among them, getting ready for the best fortnight a hurler can have.
“The two of us were in tears, to be honest,” says Dan. “Because obviously we’d have loved Dillon to be there. It was great for Tipp to win. And all those young guys in the team are great buddies.
“Life is full of rollercoasters, as we all know. Hazel and myself found the day particularly difficult. Because we were in Croke Park and Tipp were going well. I’d spoken to Craig Morgan the previous week and Craig has been wearing number five now, which Dillon had worn. It was beautiful to see that because he’s a lovely young fella.”
In a few weeks, it will be their boy’s third anniversary. Dillon Quirke collapsed on the pitch in Semple Stadium during a club match for Clonoulty in August 2022, taken from them by Sudden Adult Death Syndrome. He was 24 years old.
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His death rooted the country to the spot. He was a young hurler, making his way. The 2022 championship had been a washout for Tipp but Dillon had played the most minutes of anyone in the team that season and was seen as one of the few bright spots in a bad year. And then he was gone.
“The pain is different as you go along,” his father says. “Maybe it doesn’t come around as often. But then when you go to matches like that semi-final, Dillon comes back into it.
“I had a beautiful relationship with Dillon because we travelled the world together, watching rugby and soccer and GAA. I was in New Zealand in 2017 with the Lions for three weeks with Dillon, which was amazing. We were big Munster supporters and Ireland supporters and Man United supporters. We travelled Europe and we travelled the world and I’m so grateful to have spent beautiful times with him. I can honestly say there was never a bad word spoken between the two of us. We were like brothers.
“But you ask me how I am – I’m up and down. Generally I’m not too bad. I think we’re coping quite well. Hazel and myself have a great relationship. We’re very strong and we help each other. So I think all in all, we’re doing as good as we possibly can.”
A big part of that is the Dillon Quirke Foundation, which they set up in the numb, bewildered months after his death. They sold their delicatessen business – it didn’t feel the same without Dillon – and instead put their time and energy into the foundation. They’ve raised €2m over the past 2½ years, with the long-term goal of providing heart screening for anyone in Ireland playing sport.
“We’re getting a lot of good stories from the foundation,” Dan says. “I know that we’ve saved lives in the last 2½ years. Dillon would love me to be doing that. I know he would and I feel he’s with me all the time. And to be honest, he’s probably pushing me. I feel he’s pushing me on to make this a success. That’s probably a lot of it really, to be honest.
“The thing about Sads is we all know someone. You know someone that has passed away from Sads. Nearly everybody has. What they don’t realise is that something can be done about it. If you’re screened, we can save 90 per cent of the issues. But people are just unaware. So that’s why we’re trying to raise awareness as well as screen.
“They started this 20 years ago in Italy and they’ve brought down the Sads death rate by nearly 90 per cent. So we do know that screening has worked. We screened 10,000 last year, we’ve seen another 10,000 this year. And by the end of our five-year term we will have 50,000 kids screened. Now there’s about 300,000 teenagers playing sport in Ireland. So we need to get at that.
“I’ve got calls from parents in tears on the phone, thanking us for the foundation and being screened. The first one I got was less than 12 months ago. I was speechless. What can you say? The lady rang me and said: ‘Listen, without your foundation, without being screened, he wouldn’t be with us.’ It’s an amazing thing.”
This is his life now. He throws himself into the foundation, driven by his family’s loss, searching for something good out of it all. All around him, life goes on and sport goes on. He and Hazel are in Portrush this week along with former Tipp legend Declan Ryan and his wife, taking in the golf and letting the hours slip by until Sunday.
They’ll go to the final and hope and wish and dream like every other Tipperary supporter. But the day will hit different with them too. No point pretending otherwise.
“There’s a lovely connection there, still, within the Tipperary set-up. I know they carry a picture of Dillon with them when they go to the matches. It would be amazing if we can do it. When you’re in a final, you want to win and I think we’ve a great chance. It’s going to be difficult. But please God we’ll enjoy the match and won’t feel too emotional.”
