Don McQuillan

Always Professor McQuillan to me. I met him on my first day in UCD, had him for my very mathematics lecture the next morning, and during my postgraduate year at UCD I was one of his tutors. He was an inspirational teacher and a wonderful source of advice and guidance. He opened opportunities for me that I never imagined existed. I am forever in his debt. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

So sorry to have only heard today of Don’s death. What a lovely human being, so very talented, humble, kind and caring. I have lovely memories of conversations in Rome when he was advising the Pontifical Universities. A terrific career to be proud of and a wonderful person.Our sympathies to dear Brigid and family

Don was the most brilliant lecturer I had at UCD in the late 1970s, despite some stiff competition. His style was masterful and elegant, as he guided us from short exact sequences to the power and beauty of Ext and Tor! I still have the notes.

Looking back now, it's clear that his leadership ushered in a whole new era for the maths department there, as it transitioned from the old days with a lecturing focus to a place with both research and lecturing excellence expectations.

Dearest McQuillan Family,
Please accept my deepest condolences on the passing of Don. When my mother told me this morning, I was very saddened to hear about the passing of such a wonderful man. Though many years have passed since we saw each other last, I think of him every time I watch a soccer match. He was the first to hip me up to the beauty of the sport.
I remember with great fondness the fun we had together during your time in Madison and what great friends you all were to my parents and me.
Thinking of you during this time.
Maya

Sincere sympathy to Brigid and family on Don's recent passing.
He was the first Collingwood Cup captain of a Galway winning team in 1955.
May he rest in peace.

Sincere condolences to the McQuillan family on Don's recent passing.

Don's influence and expertise were pivotal in the early years (early 2000s) of moving towards more formalised Quality Assurance and Enhancement systems in Irish higher education. Through his leadership roles in UCD and then in the Irish Universities Quality Board, he supported and coached a whole new generation of colleagues in this nascent area of policy and practice in Irish higher education.

His expertise and collegial nature were also highly valued at European level, including through the Institutional Evaluation Programme of the European University Association.

I remember Don's infectious and booming laughter which punctuated many meetings and discussions. But his devotion to his children and, at the time, growing brood of grandchildren back in the States is what particularly strikes me after all those years! He was so proud of them and couldn't wait for the next visit back to see them again!

RIP Don McQuillan.

I wish to offer my sincere condolences to the McQuilllan family and the extended family on the very sad passing of such a wonderful person. Professor McQuillan lectured me in UCD as a post graduate and was an exceptionally talented and dedicated researcher and educator. He also was a perfect gentleman and was one of the most decent honest and brilliant academics and mathematicians I ever came across in UCD. He was gracious and honest to a fault and always looked immaculate and prepared for his classes and lectures like nobody else I ever met and was always in a good mood and upbeat and brightened up your day any time you met him. He was particularly respectful of female students of mathematics and it can be challenging environment for females particularly in pure mathematics but he was particularly good to all of us over his entire career. He was a mathematical genius of Algebraic Number Theory and this was well known at the University of Wisconsin where he spent many happy years and where he was hugely respected before he returned to UCD. He will be very sadly missed by the huge number of students who benefited from his support and generosity at UCD and at the University of Wisconsin over many years including myself. May the absolutely wonderful Prof Don McQuillan rest in peace. He was truly one in a million.

Condolences to Don's family on his passing. I worked with Don when he was Director of Quality at UCD and I had just taken on that role in DCU. He was such a support to me at the beginning of my career in quality assurance. He was also the founding head of the Irish Universities Quality Board and again he was a great assistance to me when I took on that position full-time when Don retired. Don made a big contribution to QA both within Ireland and internationally and insisted that Irish universities were evaluated by the best peers from overseas, a tradition that I have tried to uphold in QQI.
May Don rest in peace (though he is more likely to be dribbling past opponents on the soccer field...)

Condolences to the McQuillan family, on the death of Don. May he rest in peace.

My condolences to you Niamh and all the McQuillan family at this sad time. May your Dad rest in peace after a long, well lived life.

Condolences to Brigid and all the family on the passing of Don who was a colleague in UCD

Dear Brigid and all the McQuillan family.

Don interviewed me in December '75 for a mathematics post in Carysfort College in the week following our escape (myself, my wife, our three-year old, and a 6-month baby) from Nigeria. He had only then recently moved from Madison-Wisconsin to UCD. Don and I had a common bond in both being number theorists. Some months later I was to find we shared a Dundalk link: in Nigeria I had an American colleague - Walter Potter - who had done his PhD in Madison, and, when Walter and his wife spent the month of August '76 with us, we invited Don and Brigid to have dinner with us here at our home, a happy occasion since Don and Walter knew each other.

During the dinner it emerged that I had gone to secondary school in Dundalk, and I was puzzled when Don asked which one. One?, since I thought there was only one. Oh, I was at the Marist boarding school... Not only do I recall Don's response - but my wife does also - "now that was a posh school", something of a surprise to me since it most certainly wasn't 'posh', but in our Marist boarding insularity we had never heard of the other (presumably) less post school that Don had attended, the CBS.

Just last week I thought of Don and promised myself that I'd contact him to chat about old times, perhaps up in Airfield. I am saddened that I didn't think of doing so at an earlier time. I will remember Don with very great affection.

My deepest sympathy to Niamh and all the McQuillans on your sad loss.

UNCLE DON

A formidable man.
A supreme intellect, including the highest academic and career achievements.
Sharp in every way, especially his sense of humour and infectious laugh.
Passionate about football. I can still remember his booming voice when his team scored! A Mc Quillan male trait I think!
His passion for life and his family. His devotion to Brigid.
His intellectual enthusiasm and curiosity. Also the opposite for things that he found lacking or distasteful. He didn't suffer fools. This was his pure authenticity, a quality that is rare these days.
A man with immense presence that stood out from the crowd. He never left you indifferent. He had a sparkle in his eye that I never missed.

I am so gratefull to have been given the opportunity to spend quality time with him when I was living on the same street during my first year at UCD. I got to know him better and discovered his generosity and kindness to a young 18 year old. I would like to extend this to Brigid and my cousin Kevin. I still feel this bond today. I'm so happy to have seen him in great form last year at his house in Dublin surrounded by his whole family.

His presence will be dearly missed.

Sending all my heartfelt condolences to Brigid, Siobhan, Kevin, Niamh, Maeve and their families.

Love Freda, Emily, Rowena, Shelley and Jerome.

Dear Brigid and family.
I'm so sorry to hear about Don. My thoughts and prayers are with you at this sad time.

I worked with Don in his role as UCD's first Director of Quality and in his work with the IUQB. He was a dedicated and supportive University colleague, true to his values and getting the job done.
He was so proud of his family and the grandchildren as they arrived. May he rest in peace.
Bronwyn

We really enjoyed our time in Dublin, thanks in so many ways to Don's leadership of such a friendly department in UCD which did world-class research. Despite the passage of half a century, we have very fond memories of arriving in Ireland for the first time and being offered Don and Brigid's master bedroom while we sorted out our own accommodation. Such generosity is so rare! Don will be widely missed and we convey our heartfelt sympathy to you, Brigid, and your children whom we remember well from when they were so much younger.

To the family sincere Condolences. May he Rest in Peace

Dear Niamh, Siobhan, Kevin and Maeve,
I am very sorry to hear the news about your dad. He was a lovely man. I have many happy memories of afternoons at Knocknashee and dinner around your kitchen table. I know he will be sorely missed.
My thoughts are with you all. May he rest in peace.

Don was the first of a number of CBS Dundalk boys who attended University in Galway. He was an inspiration to those of us who followed him as we sought to emulate him and his many academic successes. An outstanding academic and also a fine sportsman who captained the UCG soccer team in 1955 to win the intervarsity Collingwood Cup for the first time in the University's history. A truly rounded individual. I would like to express my deepest sympathy to his wife and family on your great loss. May Don Rest in Peace.

Don directed my doctoral dissertation at the University of Wisconsin in the early 1970’s and we have remained close through the years. He was a gifted mathematician and a wonderful teacher but, more than that, he served, for those of us who came from humble backgrounds, as a model for how to navigate our profession in an authentic, generous and compassionate way. I was blessed to have the occasion to introduce Don to my wife Barbara on our last trip to Ireland and she joins me in sending our deepest love and condolences to Brigid, Siobhan, Kevin, Niamh and Maeve.

Rest in Peace, Don. We will miss you greatly and remember you always.

Deepest sympathy to the McQuillan family on the sad passing of Don. May he rest in peace.

Condolences to Kevin and the McQuillan family from Carol & Tony Callinan

We send our sympathy to Brigid and the family with warm appreciation of Don as a colleague in UCD and of the hospitality of the McQuillan home.

Condolences to the McQuillan family, Peter & Robert on the death of Don. May he rest in peace.

Sincere sympathy to the Mc Quillan Family on sad passing of Don May he rest in peace

Dear Brigid and family:
We are very sad to hear of Don’s death. He was my guiding light in Galway. He was number 10 and I was number 4 on the UCG soccer team. Always an inspiration.
Sincere sympathy,
Patrick O’Hare, Willowbrook, Illinois, USA

What is it like, when you meet someone in person 6 years ago
only once and he is still with you in your thoughts today.

He was a very special person who was so friendly, lively, humorous, pleasantly intelligent and enterprising.

He brought to life the past with my father in their youth and made me feel very grateful to the whole McQuillan family.

I wish we could have met him again!

Don, thank you for letting us get to know you.

Sylvia, Anna, Birgit & Hans Joachim Ottengraf

Deepest sympathy to Bridget and the family on this great loss. May he rest in peace.

On behalf of the Redemptorist Community at St. Joseph's Dundalk, I extend condolences to the McQuillan and McManus families. May Don rest in peace. He will be included in our Masses and prayers.

So sorry to hear of uncle Don’s passing. Thinking of you all.

Deepest sympathy to Brigid and family and extended McQuillan and McManus families on the passing of Don. May he rest in peace.

My condolences to the McQuillan family. I knew Don from UCD, a real gentleman.

Sincere sympathy to the McQuillan and McManus families.Thinking of you all at this very sad time.

Sincere condolences to all the McQuillan family in your loss: Don was a great colleague and a great support. May he rest in peace.
Fergus D’Arcy

Our deepest condolences on behalf of the Goldstein and Martin families. We are truly sorry for your loss and are sending strength and love to all of you. May he rest in peace.💗💗💗

Deepest sympathy to the McQuillan and McManus families on the passing of Don.