Alan Quinlan was educated at Abbey CBS in Tipperary and worked for a motor dealer after leaving school. He began his rugby career with Clanwilliam FC where he captained the Irish Youth Team against Scotland in 1993. He normally plays as a blindside flanker, but has also played openside, number eight and second row for Munster.
Alan moved from Clanwilliam to join Shannon U20s in 1994. He began playing for Munster in 1996 and captained the youths team before becoming a regular in the first team. In May 2006 he made a comeback from a cruciate ligament injury earlier in the season to win both the AIB League Division 1 title with Shannon and the Heineken Cup with Munster after a late appearance from the bench in the Heineken Cup Final win over Biarritz in Cardiff. He captained the side from Number Eight in Munster's upset victory over Ulster in Ravenhill in the 2007 Magner's League. He was voted Man of the Match as Munster beat Toulouse 16–13 on 24 May 2008 to win the Heineken Cup for a second time. He was part of the Squad that won the 2008 – 2009 Magners League.
In total he holds five league medals with Shannon, as well as two Heineken Cup medals and a Celtic League Medal with Munster. Alan won his 201st cap against Leinster, equalling Anthony Foley's club record for caps, on 2 October 2010. He became Munster's most capped player ever on 16 October 2010, against RC Toulon in the Heineken Cup.
Alan represented Ireland 'A' between 1998 and 2001 and made his senior debut for the Irish national team in October 1999 as a replacement in a Test against Romania. He played his first Six Nations match against Italy in 2001. He was a part of Ireland's squad at the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia and scored two tries in the tournament before dislocating his shoulder scoring a vital try against Argentina in the pool stages, which ended his involvement. He was named in Ireland's 2007 Rugby World Cup squad but did not make any appearances. Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan was widely criticised afterwards for not using his bench. Quinlan took his caps to a total of 27 by playing in the Autumn Internationals of 2008 against Canada and the All Blacks. In 2009, he was selected to play for the British and Irish Lions but controversially didn’t travel due to suspension.
More recently, Alan has become a regular contributor on RTE’s Against the Head as well as co-commentating on Ireland 6 Nations matches for BBC Northern Ireland. Alan was selected by ITV as part of their Rugby World Cup Commentary Team alongside Michael Lynagh, Francois Pienaar, Sean Fitzpatrick and Lawrence Dallaglio. Sky Sports have just recruited Alan as a co-commentator for the upcoming 2011/ 2012 Heineken Cup Campaign”
He is a regular speaker at corporate and club events both in Ireland and internationally.