The Dungarvan club has learned with deep regret of the death of former player Nicky Quill, Dunlaoghaire and formerly of the Pike which occurred in in Dublin on the 8th of November. To the older generation in our club and indeed in a number of other ones which Nicky played with, the name Nicky Quill would be well known as he was a fine exponent of both hurling and football.
One of the Quills of the Pike in Dungarvan, Nicky first came to prominence whilst attending the local CBS where he won a Munster Final Dean Ryan Cup hurling medal in 1953 when the school beat O Sullivan’s Quay from Cork in Fermoy by 6-3 to 0-2. Nicky played at corner back and the team who had travelled to Fermoy by train from Dungarvan were paraded through the town on their return by the band up to the school in Mitchel St. The club won its third Western minor hurling final in a row in ’53 and Nicky played at full back in a game that we won against Cappoquin by 3-8 to 1-2.
The emerging Quill also figured on the school teams that were defeated in two other Dean Ryan Cup finals either side of their winning one. In 1952 Nicky played wing back on the side beaten narrowly by Thurles CBS on a score of 6-4 to 6-2 and in 1954, he was full back when Limerick CBS defeated ‘the Brothers’ by 4-5 to 3-3.
1954 was the year that the youthful Nicky Quill began his adult career which would later see him play with many clubs as his occupation as a garda brought him around the country. He started as a corner back on our junior hurling team and the following year, still a minor, he was on the edge of the square when we played Abbeyside in the first round of the senior hurling championship.
Nicky Quill’s ability in both codes was recognised by the County minor hurling and football selectors in ’55, he was on the team that was defeated by Tipperary in the Munster hurling final and he also played against Kerry in football.
In 1956, the club was pipped at the post by Mount Sion in the County senior football final on a score of 3-2 to 2-4 with Quill featuring at wing forward and the same year he scored 4-1 in the quarter final of the senior hurling championship when we defeated a East Waterford combination by 7-1 to 1-5.
Nicky went on his travels after he left school and interestingly he won an All Ireland junior hurling medal with Kerry in 1961 when the Kingdom defeated a London side that also featured another former club player in Willie Barron. Certainly both players are part and parcel of the history of local GAA folklore. No doubt Nicky left his mark on other clubs in his varied career wherever he was stationed in years gone by.
The Dungarvan club extends its sincere sympathy to Nickys wife Jo, his children Fidelma and Fintan, his grandchildren, sister Helen and his brother Eddie and all his relations at this very sad time for them.
