Quaid made his debut on the inter-county scene when he first linked up with the Limerick minor team.
As a member of the Munster inter-provincial team, Quaid won two Railway Cup medals, one on the field of play and one as a non-playing substitute.
His father, Jim Quaid, was a key player on the Limerick team which beat London in the 1954 junior All-Ireland final.
Joe succeeded his cousin playing position, Tommy Quaid, who was the goalkeeper on the Limerick team from 1976 until 1993.
On 23 July 1993, Quaid made his last appearance for the under-21 team when he lined out in goal in a 1-18 to 3-09 Munster final defeat by Cork.
[6] On 17 October 1993, Quaid made his debut with the Limerick senior team in a 1-13 to 0-13 National Hurling League defeat of Cork.
With five minutes of normal time remaining, Limerick were leading by 2-13 to 1-11 and looked to be heading to their first title in 21 years when Offaly were awarded a free 20 metres from the goal.
Quaid later admitted that he was to blame for the resultant goal in that he didn't organise his defence well enough to stop a low-struck free from Johnny Dooley.
Quaid was praised for making a series of spectacular saves during the game, however, Limerick were eventually defeated by 1-13 to 0-14.
[15][16][17] In spite of the injury, Quaid won a second National League medal on 5 October 1997 after a 1-12 to 1-09 defeat of Galway in the final.
In his third season in charge he guided the team to the All-Ireland title after a 3-20 to 0-08 defeat of Galway in the final at Semple Stadium.
[26] Quaid's third season in charge saw Limerick finish in fourth position in Group 1 of the All-Ireland Championship.
[28] His first season in charge saw Kildare finish in fifth position in Division 2A of the National Hurling League while the team reached the semi-final of the Christy Ring Cup where they were beaten by eventual winners Meath.
[29] Quaid's second season in charge saw Kildare finish in third position in Division 2A of the league and narrowly miss out on a place in the final.
[30] In the subsequent Christy Ring Cup, Kildare reached the quarter-finals where they were defeated again by eventual champions Carlow.
[34] He led the Midlanders to a National Hurling League Div 2A title in the spring by overcoming Kerry in the final.
He later seen his side qualify for the Joe McDonagh Cup decider where Westmeath lost out to Laois in Corke Park.