Nicholas "Nickie" Quaid (born 12 June 1989) is an Irish hurler who plays as a goalkeeper for club side Effin and at inter-county level with the Limerick senior hurling team. Early life Quaid was born in Effin, County Limerick, the middle child of three sons born to Tommy Quaid and Breda Grace. His father was an All-Ireland runner-up with Limerick as a goalkeeper in 1980. His grandfather, Jack Quaid, won a Munster Championship medal in 1955, while his cousin, Joe Quaid, was the All-Ireland runner-up goalkeeper in 1994 and 1996. Playing career University During his studies at the Institute of Technology, Tralee, Quaid became involved with the institute's senior hurling team. On 26 February 2011, he was at midfield when Tralee IT defeated Institute of Technology, Carlow by 1-17 to 1-15 in the final of the Ryan Cup. Club Quaid joined the Effin club at a young age and played in all grades at juvenile and underage levels before joining the club's junior team. On 31 October 2010, Quaid won a Limerick Junior Championship medal following Effin's 1-16 to 1-10 defeat of St. Kieran's. As a member of divisional side Emmets, Quaid was at midfield when the team was defeated by Kilmallock in the Limerick Senior Championship final on 3 October 2010. On 25 September 2011, Quaid was at centre-back when Effin defeated Ballybrown in the final of the Limerick Intermediate Championship. His display in the subsequent 0-14 to 0-11 defeat of Ballyduff in the Munster final earned Quaid particular praise in the media. Inter-county Minor and under-21 Quaid first played for Limerick at minor level in 2006. His two seasons in the grade ended with back-to-back Munster Championship defeats by Tipperary. On 5 June 2008, Quaid made his first appearance for the Limerick under-21 hurling team, lining out in goal in Limerick's 2-17 to 1-07 defeat of Waterford. His three seasons in the under-21 grade ended with early championship defeats. Senior Quaid was one of a number of new players drafted onto the Limerick senior hurling team in 2010 in place of many of the 2009 panel who refused to play under manager Justin McCarthy. On 21 February 2010, he made his senior debut at midfield for Limerick in a National League defeat by Galway at FitzGerald Park. Quaid made his first championship appearance on 20 June 2010 when he was introduced as a substitute for Andrew Brennan in