According to "A Biographical Dictionary of Cork", by Tim Cadogan and Jeremiah Falvey, Quill served as a councillor on Cork County Council for two periods. As a Transport member, he was nominated and won a seat in 1925, retaining his seat in 1928 and lost the seat in 1934, before winning a seat again in 1942 and serving until 1945. He was elected to both the Cork County Council and the Cork Corporation that year. Quill was at one time Chair of the South Cork Board of Public Assistance. Quill also served as a city councillor with Cork Corporation. The City Councillor's 1920–1945 roll book seems to record that T Quill was elected in 1936. In 1939, he is listed as a member of the Labour Party's Cork Centre Branch. There was a local election in the city almost every year from 1929 to 1936 to elect portions of the city council and others in 1942 and 1945. Quill was a member of the South Cork Board of Public Health.He is still listed as a councillor in this book in 1944–1945. Quill served as Deputy Lord Mayor of Cork and on the Committee of Management of the South Infirmary.