Hurling camino for Dillon

Tipp and Limerick players unite for walk on August 18 and 19

Tipperary and Limerick will unite on August 18 and 19 in support of the Dillon Quirke Foundation as a Limerick company - with intercounty stars from both sides of divide among its workforce - leads a the 65km trek along the traditional route to Semple Stadium.

Staff at UniJobs, which employs Limerick's Cian Lynch and Tipperary's Barry Hogan among others, have come together to take on the walk along the R503 running from Limerick city centre through Newport and onto Thurles that legions would have taken to historic matches between the two counties across the last century.

The walk, which is to raise funds and awareness for cardiac screening and the life-saving work of the foundation, commences at 8am from UniJobs headquarters at Riverpoint, Limerick, with day one of the walk and concluding at Sean Treacy's GAA. Day 2, to Semple Stadium, commences at 9am, with an estimated arrival time of 3pm. People are asked to donate through iDonate and/or join along the route.

UniJobs is a public sector organisation established in 2013 to provide temporary staffing solutions for other public sector organisations and employee and Tipperary goalkeeper Barry Hogan, who played with Dillon Quirke against Limerick in the 2022 championship game just three months before his passing, said that the initiative is a cause dear to his and the company's heart.

"I played with Dillon and he was an incredible personality, not to mind a hurler. But what's happened in his memory by way of the Dillon Quirke Foundation is incredible. It is saving lives, no question. But it is also then an inspired legacy to Dillon himself. He was always a larger than life as a person and this legacy is proving it," he said.

Hogan said they have chosen the route in question for a number of reasons, including nostalgic. "Perhaps the road most used to Thurles, in cars, on bikes and on foot, in the very early days of hurling matches between Tipp and Limerick was the one we are walking. It takes you through Limerick clubs, Tipperary clubs and is along a really stunning countryside. So, it's like our own hurling camino from Limerick to Thurles."

The Dillon Quirke Foundation also resonates deeply for Unijobs at an employee level. Founded in 2013, Unijobs' first employee and founding Chief Executive was Abbeyfeale native Bobby O'Connor, whose family experienced the devastating loss of their eldest sibling, David, in 1995 to Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS). Unijobs' second employee and current Chief Operating Officer, Damien Bowe lost his brother Michael to a heart-related illness when he was just 27 years old.

These deeply personal experiences have given the work of the Dillon Quirke Foundation particular meaning within Unijobs, reinforcing the importance of raising awareness of cardiac health and supporting efforts to prevent similar tragedies affecting other families.

Launching the walk, Dillon Quirke Foundation Chair, Niall Quinn, said: "Our work isn't done until every young sports person gets screened and this message isn't just to the sports people or to the people who are good enough to go out and have fundraising events like UniJobs, this is also a message to parents too, that it's best to be safe and have your children screened and Dillon Quirke Foundation will do everything we can. If your club gets in touch, we'll get you on that list and we'll get the screening done."