The death has taken place of Kevin Quinn, a dual rugby and cricket international and a member of a family with a truly remarkable and distinguished sporting record. He was 79.
He was one of four brothers, all of whom played rugby for Leinster. Kevin and his brother Gerry both played rugby for Ireland, but Gerry did not play in an official international, and all four played cricket for Ireland, one of only two families to achieve that feat.
Kevin Quinn was born in Gort, Co Galway, on March 14th, 1923, and educated at Belvedere College. From his early years he revealed a fine aptitude for sport.
The Quinn family will always be synonymous with the great Old Belvedere team that won the Leinster Senior Cup seven years in succession between 1940 and 1946. All four won medals during that sequence. Gerry, Paddy and Frank were on the side that won the trophy in 1940 and 1941, when Paddy led the side and then retired. Kevin came into the team to join Gerry and Frank in 1942 and helped win the cup for the next five successive seasons. Then in 1951, he captained the side that regained the trophy and was also on the team that retained it in 1952. In all he won seven senior cup medals.
He made his debut for Leinster as a teenager in November 1941, and his interprovincial career extended to 1953. He was a member of the Irish XV that played against the British Army in February 1945, and also the following season. He played against England, Scotland and Wales in the unofficial internationals in 1946, with his brother Gerry in the side against England and Wales.
Kevin made his full international debut against France in January 1947. He played against Australia in December, 1947, and dropped a goal in that match.
He missed out on the Grand Slam, Triple Crown and championship wins of 1948, '49 and '51, but he was recalled to the Ireland team in 1953 and won three caps in the centre.
He was a player with a fine football intellect, proficient in the centre or out-half positions, and was particularly adept at dropping goals. While most of his career was spent with Old Belvedere, he also played for London Irish for a period when his medical duties took him to England.
He was capped seven times for Ireland at cricket between 1957 and 1959. He won four Leinster Senior League and five Senior Cup medals with Phoenix, for whom he made his senior debut at 15 years of age. He was captain in 1955. He scored 4,420 runs for his club and took 433 wickets during his splendid career.
A quiet, dignified and most unassuming man, he was the last survivor of the four brothers. He is survived by his wife Margaret, daughters Clodagh, Elizabeth, Katherine and Paula, and son Kevin to whom sincere sympathy is extended.
- Edmund Van Esbeck
