The motorsport community was plunged into mourning on Thursday last when news broke that Kerry Motor Club member Katie Quinn had passed away after a sudden and short illness.
Katie is a member of the well-known Quinn family that has been involved in the club and rallying in Kerry for years.
Her father Mike is one of the club’s most successful drivers and is a club director.
Katie forged her own career as a successful driver when she made her debut on the 2017 Garda Rally in Baltinglass at the wheel of a Honda Civic. She has previously navigated for several local drivers.
She was a regular competitor in rally events all over the country, especially on rounds of the Top Part West Coast Championship.
Two years after her debut she was crowned the Women in Motorsport Ireland Rally Champion and repeated that feat gain last season.
That 2023 result encouraged her to travel further afield and she registered for the 2024 Triton Showers National Rally Championship and competed in the Mayo Rally for the first time.
One of her proudest moments was having her sister Michelle as navigator on the 2021 Kerry Winter Rally.
Kerry Motor Club members provided a fitting tribute on Sunday afternoon when Katie’s remains were brought to Hogan’s Funeral Home.
Rally cars lined the road as the cortege made its way from her Maugha, Lyrecrompane to the funeral home and a guard of honour was provided as she returned home for the final time.
Ahead of her requiem Mass on Monday morning, the club signed the road from Maugha to St Brendan’s Church in Ballymac as if it was a rally stage.
Katie was laid to rest in Clogher Cemetery on Monday morning surrounded by rally competitors and officials from all over Ireland.
Katie will be deeply missed by her heartbroken family, her mother Mary, father Mike, sisters Tina and Michelle and her nephew Rían, her grandparents Pat and Chris, grandmother Bridget, Aunts Helena, Jackie and Trish and Uncle Mike. Katie will be fondly remembered by her relatives and many friends inside and outside motorsport.
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Kerry Motorsport News 