Kilruane MacDonaghs pay fitting tribute to fallen star Dillon Quirke

After ending a 37-year wait to become Tipperary SHC champions, Kilruane MacDonaghs stepped away from the celebrations, kneeling in a circle around manager Liam O'Kelly on the 21-metre line at the town end of Semple Stadium.

It was the spot where Dillon Quirke had collapsed during their group game against Clonoulty-Rossmore last August.

O’Kelly held a red helmet aloft, evocative of Quirke’s celebration on his greatest day for Clonoulty in this final five years ago, and said some words to pay tribute to the fallen Tipperary hurler.

"We’ll always remember the night we won but we’ll always remember the night we were all here, the night that poor Dillon passed away," said O’Kelly.

"The game wasn’t over two minutes and the first man that came over and shook my hand was Dan, Dillon’s father.

"There’s a bond between Kilruane and Clonoulty that’s absolutely phenomenal. I knew nobody in Clonoulty, bar Declan Ryan, being familiar with the name, but now I’ve lads ringing me, texting me, it’s unbelievable. With Andrew Fryday and these guys in a club like Clonoulty, they’re only going to get stronger."

That game has knitted the clubs together and it has brought this Kilruane group closer together too.

They have had their share of adversity through injuries. Craig Morgan, their Tipperary starter, chief among them, having been as ruled out with a cruciate injury at the end of August. But rather than have him sit in the background on game days, O’Kelly has brought Morgan into his inner circle.

"I’m not a genius in hurling, I’ve always said that. One thing I do know is I’ve a group of guys in the changing room that would go to war for me every day. The bond there is unreal.

"That’s why I had the moment there to remember Dillon Quirke. Since that