Dr. Gerard Quinn

I met Gerard Quinn in 1994 when I joined the UCD School of English. His first greeting to me was “William Carlos Williams!” So began many discussions on American poetry, and, in particular, on the poetry of Robert Frost. Gerard was a brilliant critic who argued for complex layers of meaning in Frost’s poems. To hear him quote a poem from memory was evidence of his grasp of how inextricable sound and rhythm was from meaning. As demanding as Gerard’s responses were, his expression was always clear and precise.

In addition, Gerard was a wonderful lecturer, tutor and seminar leader. He was the recipient of UCD’s prestigious Teaching Fellowship.

I have many fond memories of Gerard.

May he rest in peace.

I’m so sorry to hear of Gerard’s passing. He was my tutor in 1996 and showed great kindness from the start. After our first tutorial, he asked me to stay back. He’d noted my surname and accent, and asked if I was related to a ship’s captain who had once given him free passage to Wales early in his academic career. It was my late uncle, who had also helped Gerard with his seasickness by offering chocolate to help him get sick! It was a kindness he never forgot.

When I became very ill that year, Gerard reached out with genuine concern, even calling the hospital to pass on his good wishes. He was so encouraging when I missed so much time that I had to repeat the year.

He was an inspiring teacher whose passion for Modernism, especially Robert Frost, left a lasting impression on me. I remember his final lecture in 1998 on his retirement, delivered in a bow tie to mark the occasion, full of brilliance and met with rapturous applause from Theatre L. My condolences to his family on the loss of a wonderful man and a remarkable communicator.

I am very sorry to hear to hear of Gerard’s passing. He was extremely kind to me when I arrived as a young lecturer in UCD and we had many empassioned conversations about poetry. We shared an interest in birds and I remember fondly walking the wooded areas of UCD with Gerard and the late Alan Harrison. May he rest in peace

I met Gerard on one occasion only - a Birdwatch Ireland trip to Wexford. An amazing day of conversation for a teenager and his friendliness and interest in myself but basically in everyone and everything stayed with me always. Condolences to all his family and friends.

My deepest sympathy to the family and friends of Dr Gerard Quinn.
He was an inspiring teacher of English in Carysfort College where I attended as a mature student in 1983. He showed great enthusiasm for poetry and literature. He was extremely encouraging and I felt truly honoured when my work was admired by him. Great memories.
May he rest in peace.

Deepest sympathy to the Quinn family on the death of Gerard. I met Gerard many years ago, when he was a frequent and always welcome visitor to our family home in Arranmore. We kept in touch for many years, and he was a much valued, kind and caring friend. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

Sincere condolences to the family, friends and former students of Gerard. He was a good friend of my parents, a colleague of my father, John, at Carysfort. He would often come round for dinner or parties on his motorbike and let us have a go of it (sit on it stationary!) in the driveway, and my sister and I thought he was the coolest. He also had a lovely voice and smile, and always lots of laughter. RIP Gerard.

I offer my sincere condolences to Gerard's family.
Gerard and I were colleagues in Carysfort College.
He was the only person from the Arts World who ever asked me serious mathematical questions, his interest stemming from his Frost studies.
Once, in our home he produced an issue of the Scientific American containimg an article on prime numbers by the renowned American number theorist Carl Pomerance.
I was stunned to see Gerard's copious annotations, and he grilled me. It was tough going! How could I explain to him the meaning of a 'pseudoprime to the base 2' - Gerard wanted to know. Stop almost any mathematician here/elsewhere to ask, and they wouldn't know. My poor wife left us to it and I had to throw him out at 3AM! She remembers.
Once, being visited by Frank (my father-in-law), Gerard hosted a party at his home just for Frank, to which he invited many Carysfort colleagues. Generous to a fault.
Almost every Christmas Gerard would call with a card, he was fond of our two daughters, and they of him.
We will remember him fondly.

Gerard was a very special tutor and teacher - fearless when it came to poetry and language and encouraging us to write to our best ability. I missed a class one day - spent it at the Botanic Gardens instead - and when he found out, he was lavish with praise for my day well spent.

May he Rest in Peace.

Ger Quinn was an inspirational teacher in U.C.D.’s part-time evening courses. He opened up the poetry world to me… I read Frost’s Collected Poems, Prose, Plays cover to cover. I discovered that a poem is not only putting technically excellent marks on a page or sounds in the air, but expressing the poet’s identity. It is an invitation to a person’s unique world. Concordance and authenticity is revealed (or not) by reading more of his/her work. Sincere sympathy to the family on the passing of a deep and caring thinker and teacher.

Gerard Quinn was an inspirational lecturer in Carysfort in the 80s and gave this shy Donegal girl the confidence to be proud of where she came from. I often thought of him and of the natural way he had of putting his students at their ease.
Slán agus beannacht.

With deepest sympathy on the passing of Gerard.

Gertie Stewart (nee Corr - Pomeroy) Dungannon

Sincere sympathies to all of Gerard’s family and friends. I have very fond memories from Carysfort and for several years afterwards in the sitting room in Ardagh, long chats and cups of tea (and maybe something stronger from time to time). He gave us a love of literature and the language of discussion and argument. Ní bheidh a leithéad arís ann. Suaimhneas síoraí dó

Sincere sympathy to the Quinn family on the death of Gerard. His love of english literature and the promotion of creative writing among the students was always evident during our student days in Carysfort.

We have great memories of Gerard and were deeply saddened to hear of his passing. We remember his effusive conversations about the things he was passionate about - literature, gardening, Robert Frost, Armagh GAA, good whiskey, music, his old teaching buddy (who happened to be Mick Jagger's father), history and (on a different note) certain security forces. Our children Niamh and Conor also have very fond memories of him, and loved his stories. May he RIP

So very sorry to hear of the death of Gerard Quinn. He was an inspiring teacher of English at Carysfort College, where I attended. He loved poetry, particularly that of Robert Frost and instilled a great love of language in us all.
May he rest in peace.

So sorry to hear of the passing of Gerard. He was a wonderful character.
Karen and Nick (Carysfort past pupil)

A wonderful lecturer who took a personal interest in his students and instilled a love of Frost in us all in Carysfort. May his gentle soul rest in peace on his way through the snowy woods to eternity.
Celine McCabe
Graduate 1986.

So sorry to learn of Gerard’s passing. As a child I fondly remember his regular visits to our home in Armagh. When I moved to Dublin we reacquainted and had many laughs in Blackrock and our house in Templeogue. Gerard was so kind and caring. RIP

First year tutorials you couldn’t forget and an introduction to Frost that kept you coming back. A teacher to the core.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.