Dillon Quirke was remembered as a "shining star" and an "inspiring hero" as he was laid to rest on Tuesday afternoon.
The 24-year-old collapsed shortly before half time while playing with his local club on Friday evening in the Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship.
He received treatment on the field before being taken to Tipperary University Hospital in Clonmel , where he was pronounced dead a short time later.
READ MORE: GAA club hails Dillon Quirke as hundreds attend vigil for late hurler ahead of funeral
His funeral mass took place on Tuesday afternoon, where his uncle Andrew Fryday told mourners: "It's an honour for me, as Dillon's uncle to stand up here today.
"I'm going to go back to that awful night that we had in Semple Stadium last Friday. You know, Dillon was going so well in that match - a leading player, a leading captain. He was showing his ability and his skill and nightmare struck then and we all know what happened.
"It was a disaster to us to see him leave the stadium the way he left. But he left the way he wanted to leave - a shining star."
Paying tribute to his nephew, he continued: "The feeling of grief that was there that night, it has hit across every corner of us. It has hurt us, young and old.
"Dillon was a lovely, lovely fella. A perfect gentleman. Any mother and father would like to have him as a son. I suppose, if you go to the depths of his hurling career for his club or his county, he's what any manager would want to have: a leader, an inspiration to other players around him.
"Any time I wanted the nitty gritty or unthankful jobs in the club, I'd ask him and he'd go away and do it, even as one of our big stars.
"Last Friday evening, Dillon made a triumphant exit from his life, doing what he loved, with his teammates and great friends he loved so much, in front of his family.
"What an inspiring hero he was to us, both on and off the field. Until we meet again, Dillon, go gently in to that good night.
President Michael D Higgins and Taoiseach Micheál Martin both had representatives present, while GAA President Larry McCarthy was also in attendance.
Sporting items offered included a hurley, his red helmet and jersies of both Tipperary GAA and Clonoulty-Rossmore jersey
A photograph of his housemates, a pair of concert tickets, 'lucky pants' and an apron from his job working in a deli were also brought forward, symbolising his life away from sport.
Andrew regaled a couple of tales, telling people that Dillon had "his mother's charm and his father's divilment. He was a shining example to both of them.
"I'll give ye an example of the divilment - I'll take you back to 2011, when the club got to a county final. Dillon was young, he was 12 or 13 years of age and like every young fella he wanted to put up the Clonoulty colours.
"He got green and yellow paint and off he went on the bike to paint all the county council signs yellow and green - then the county council arrived and he took back off and jumped the ditch before he got to his house and through the field. He thought he'd got away with it. The county councilman was inside the kitchen - and he was paraded down to wash the signs.
"Less than a couple of weeks ago, he and his housemates stuck a heap of €2 coins off the ground outside the nightclub using superglue. That's the kind of divilment.
The altar of the Church of St. John the Baptist, Clonoulty was adorned with blue and yellow flower arrangements, while flags of both Tipperary GAA and Clonoulty-Rossmore lay upon his coffin.
Fr Thomas Hearne told the congregation: "When the news broke of Dillon's sudden and untimely death, it feels like our parish community has become frozen in time. There has been such a huge outpouring of sadness and grief, not just here in our community but in our surrounding parishes, throughout the country and even further afield.
"People are really stunned, we're all finding it very difficult that this has really happened. On Saturday evening, when we gathered in the local grounds, where we could say was maybe a second home for Dillon, the silence was almost deafening. There wasn't a sound with such a huge crowd of people gathered. People together, sharing their pain and sharing their loss.
"When you read through the condolences, it leaves us in no doubt. Our parish, Dillon's teammates in the club and his work colleagues have lost a valued and special friend."
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