Despite the initial lack of recognition for the events leading up to the surrender, in the years following Quinlan's death his reputation in Ireland was restored.

[3][4] The Siege of Jadotville took place in September 1961, during the United Nations intervention in the Katanga conflict in Congo-Léopoldville, in Central Africa.

Quinlan, however, had no access to resupply and reinforcements and, with his transport destroyed by Katanga's Fouga Magister jet, a breakout was virtually impossible.

In the end, with his position untenable, without any clear orders or promise of assistance, having run out of ammunition and food and low on water, Quinlan accepted a second offer to surrender to the Katangese.

[3] The veterans of Jadotville were dissatisfied with the Irish Defence Forces' refusal to acknowledge the battle and the implied black mark on the reputation of their commander.

[1][3] In November 2020, an Independent Review Group commissioned by Irish Defence Minister Simon Coveney recommended that Quinlan receive the Distinguished Service Medal (DSM).

[12] Quinlan's tactics at Jadotville influenced subsequent training programmes,[13] and were, according to RTÉ, "cited in military textbooks worldwide as the best example of the use of the so-called perimeter defence".