Tommy Quaid

Tommy Quaid was born in Charleville, County Cork in 1957. The son of Bridie (née Collins) and Jack Quaid, he was born into a family that had a strong association with hurling. His father was one of the key players on the Limerick team which beat London in the 1954 All-Ireland junior final. He won a senior Munster title the following year when a Mick Mackey-trained team shocked Clare in the provincial decider. Quaid's five children all followed in their father's footsteps on the hurling field. Séamus Quaid was a stalwart of the Feohanagh club until he emigrated to Australia. John Quaid went on to represent his county at minor and under 21 levels while Pat Quaid also served as a member of the Limerick under-21 hurling panel. Noreen Quaid also represented her County and local club in Feoghangh. Quaid's sons Tomás and Nicky represented Limerick at underage levels and were members of the Effin team that lost the 2007 Limerick Junior 'A' hurling final to a Caherline team. Nickie Quaid now plays in goal for the Limerick senior hurling team. ==Playing career==

Club Quaid played his club hurling with his local Feohanagh-Castlemahon club. In spite of being a goalkeeper at inter-county level he played as a forward during most of his club career and, more often than not, he also served as the team's free-taker. Quaid's club career got off to a less than auspicious start. After losing back-to-back minor finals he subsequently joined the club's under-21 team. Success, however, also eluded him in this grade as he suffered the heartbreak of losing four consecutive Under-21 West Division finals. Quaid's most successful hour came in 1990 when he captained Feohanagh-Castlemahon to a West Limerick senior hurling title. Unfortunately he never won a county senior title. In later years he played his club hurling with Effin, where he won three South Limerick junior hurling titles. Inter-county Quaid's performances at club level brought him to the attentions of the inter-county selectors. He was passed over for inter-county duty on the Limerick minor team in 1973, however, he joined the side the following year as goalkeeper. In 1975 Quaid joined the Limerick senior hurling team, making his debut in a National Hurling League quarter-final against Kilkenny. They were completely trounced again in 1979 on a score line of 2–14 to 0–9 as Cork captured a record-equaling fifth Munster title in-a-row. It was the county's first All-Ireland title since 1923 and, ironically, Limerick were the defeated team on that occasion as well. Limerick retained their provincial crown in 1981. Clare were defeated on that occasion by 3–12 to 2–9 giving Quiad his second Munster medal. Poc Fada Quaid also won numerous awards as an individual and in pairs competitions in the All-Ireland Poc Fada Championship. In 1983 Quaid and Joe Shortt from Armagh won the pairs competition with 154 pucks. Three years later in 1986 he collected another pairs title, this time with John Kelly of Offaly as his partner. Quaid and Des Donnelly of Antrim won the title in 1990, while together with Michael Sahughnessy of Galway he retained the pairs competition title in 1991. That same year Quaid also won the All-Ireland title in the singles competition. ==Managerial career==

In retirement from playing at inter-county level, Quaid became involved in the management side of hurling. In 1998 he guided the Limerick intermediate hurlers to a Munster title in that grade following a 2–11 to 0–15 defeat of Tipperary. == Tommy Quaid Perpetual Cup ==

On 1 May 2008, the Iverahain Golf Society launched the inaugural Tommy Quaid Perpetual Cup in 'The Hurlers', Castletroy, County Limerick. Membership of the society is confined to men who have worn the hurling Number 1 jersey at senior inter-county level for one of the six Munster counties. The Tommy Quaid Perpetual Cup is awarded to the winner of this annual competition and the outing will alternate between the six Munster counties over the coming years. Present and former hurling goalkeepers from the entire province have jumped at the opportunity of participating in this novel outing. The event was launched by former Clare goalkeeper Davy Fitzgerald. Also in attendance was Brian Murray (Limerick goalkeeper) and Donal Óg Cusack (Cork goalkeeper). ==References==