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Dillon Quirke's funeral took place today in St John the Baptist Church, Clonoulty, Tipperary

THE FUNERAL MASS of 24-year-old Dillon Quirke was held in St John the Baptist Church, Clonoulty, Tipperary today.

The talented hurler became ill during a Senior Hurling Championship game between Clonoulty-Rossmore in Tipperary last week.

Play was stopped and the match abandoned on Friday night, before the 24-year-old was taken to hospital. He passed away shortly after.

At the funreal today the coffin was draped in the colours of his club side as well as his county and brought into the church by his Clonoulty-Rossmore team-mates.

The eulogy was delivered by the chairman of Clonoulty-Rossmore GAA Club Andrew Fryday, who is also Dillon's uncle.

The funeral of Tipperary hurler Dillion Quirke takes place in his native Clonoulty, later today.

The 24-year-old died tragically after becoming ill during a Senior Hurling Championship match on Friday evening. #VMNews

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Dillon Quirke made his senior Tipperary debut in 2020 against Limerick in the National League, with his Championship following later that year as a substitute in a qualifier against Cork.

He soon established himself in the Senior panel and started all four of Tipperary's Championship games this year.

Several tributes were paid to Dillon by former, current teammates, and the GAA family.

Speaking yesterday, John O’Keeffe who won a 2018 Tipperary senior county title with him said: “He was loved by everybody, you’d go a long way to find someone who would say a bad word about Dillon, on and off the pitch.

GAA President Larry McCarthy also added,

“There is a huge sense of shock across the GAA Community at the tragic loss of Dillon who had already achieved so much in his young life.”

“He was a young man in his prime with so much potential and promise and on behalf of the GAA family I would like to extend my sympathies to Dillon’s parents, Dan and Hazel, and his sisters, Shannon and Kellie, at what is an unimaginably difficult time.”

A powerful tribute video of Dillon Quirke's hurling career was also uploaded by TG4 Sport on their social media page.

The talented sports star won the 2018 Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship and described the feeling as 'unreal' with a beaming smile.