1. Billy Dunlop: An archaeological Legacy
Originally posted online on 17 November 2011 at rmchapple.blogspot.com
(http://rmchapple.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/billy-dunlop-archaeological-legacy.html)
On the 15th 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 Castle
Ward. I took another, with the intention of dropping it to a bookshop in
Ballyhackamore. As I was in transit an idea struck me. I thought about Billy’s fabulous
generosity to me and others and how it may be more appropriate to first offer his books
to archaeologists. I felt that by this method Billy’s books could go forward to inspire
another generation of archaeologists, in ways similar to how he himself inspired so
many.
That is why I didn’t stop at the bookshop, but instead continued home. With the
indulgence of my wife, I took over the majority of the floor space of our library and
attempted to sort them into rough piles by subject. The piles included British & Irish
archaeology, Greek, Roman, Egyptology, but also large collections of poetry, gardening
books, philosophy, bird watching, and literature too. I first put out a call to all the
archaeologists I knew in the Belfast area, and later brought boxes to work to offer to
colleagues there. I placed only two conditions on anyone wishing to take a book or two

2. from the collection, and both were wholly voluntary. Firstly, I asked for a donation to go
to The Down's Syndrome Association, NI, the preferred charity of the Dunlop family.
Secondly, I asked if I could take a quick snapshot to go on this blog. So far I have
collected around £100, the last of which will soon be handed over to the Dunlop family.
I wanted the photographs to show the Dunlop family, and the archaeological community
at large, that though Billy may be gone, his library will continue to entertain, educate
and maybe even inspire.
I think that this was a better way to disperse his library thank simply dropping it off at a
charity shop. While it has taken effort on my part (and patience on the part of my wife),
I believe that Billy would have approved. I hope you do too. Finally, I would like to pay
tribute to all who have taken the time to look through the collection and for
their generosity to The Down's Syndrome Association, NI.

6. At the time of writing, I still have some volumes from Billy's library that are still looking
for a good home, so please contact me if you would like to have a small memento of him.
The book shop at Castle Ward will, I imagine, still have some of his books for sale - Billy
signed practically every volume on the flyleaf, so there's no mistaking any that belonged
to him. Alternately, The Down's Syndrome Association, NI is a wonderful charity that
always needs help and support - even a small donation directly to them would help
make someone's life a better and happier place to be.