Robert M Chapple, Archaeologist

[** If you think the post is useful, please re-share via Facebook, Google+, Twitter etc. **] Preface: This is a slightly longer version of an article submitted to the Ulster Archaeology Society 's Newsletter, edited by Duncan Berryman ( @ArchaeologistD ). The on-line version is available to read: here . If you have an interest in the archaeology of Ulster, please consider joining the Society - it is a wonderful resource that deserves our support!  It doesn’t take me to tell the readers of this Newsletter that Billy Dunlop was for many years the energetic heart of the UAS. His long-term editorship of this Newsletter, while impressive, was but one of his achievements. He was involved in just about every aspect of UAS life, from committee work, to attending lectures and field-trips to, in 2000, holding the position of President of the Society. With his passing in September of last year, I lost a valued friend and a trusted mentor (read my tribute to Billy...

On the 15 th of September 2011 Billy Dunlop died. With his passing I, and many of the readers of this blog, lost a good friend, mentor, and stalwart of the Northern Irish archaeological scene. I have already recounted some details of his life and my memories of him and do not propose to do the same again. My reason in writing this piece is to place on record some events that have occurred since his death, which I think Billy would have heartily approved of. Shortly after his passing, I got talking to his daughter, Maggie, who asked if I would be interested in taking some books from her father’s library. As a committed bibliophile, I jumped at the offer, even though Billy had already been incredibly generous in his gifts of books to me. After further discussions with his family, his good friend Ken and I agreed to assist in the dispersal of the remainder of his personal library to various charity shops. Ken took a number of car-loads to the National Trust book shop at Cast...

With the passing of Billy Dunlop, on the 15th of September 2011, Irish archaeology lost one of it great promoters and enthusiasts. I cannot claim to have known Billy longest or best, but, like many field archaeologists working in Northern Ireland, I owe him a vast debt of gratitude for his kindness and generosity. For those stories shared over cups of tea on site or for the books lent to me from his personal collection I was, and remain, grateful. In time, I trust, appropriate obituaries and appreciations will appear from the pens of others better acquainted with more aspects of his life. My intention here is to set down a general outline of his life along with some of my memories of this energetic and charismatic man, who I am privileged to have known and been able to call both a mentor and a friend. Billy was born in 1920 in Court Street, Newtownards, and grew up on Deleware St, off the Ravenhill Road, Belfast. At the age of 14 he joined The Post Office as a telegraph mess...