Bill Kennedy in warm tribute to “gracious” May Dunlop, mother of Ulster road racing legends Joey and Robert

Former long-serving Armoy Road Races Clerk of Course Bill Kennedy has paid a warm tribute to the mother of Northern Ireland motorcycling legends Joey and Robert Dunlop - May Dunlop - who passed away on Monday afternoon aged 91.

May Dunlop and her husband Willie pictured at the opening of the Joey Dunlop Memorial garden in Ballymoney in 2001

Kennedy knew Mrs Dunlop for more than five decades and described her as "gracious", "dignified" and "unassuming", adding that he "thought the world of her". The matriarch of the world-renowned Dunlop family road racing dynasty, Mrs Dunlop lost both her sons to the sport, with five-time world champion Joey killed in a racing accident in Tallinn, Estonia in 2000, while Robert succumbed to injuries he sustained in a crash during practice at the North West 200 in 2008. She also lost her grandson and Robert's son William, who died after a crash at the Skerries 100 road races in the Republic of Ireland in 2018.

On Tuesday, Kennedy - whose brother Frank was a member of the famous Armoy Armada racing quartet along with Joey and Jim Dunlop, and Mervyn Robinson - said Mrs Dunlop would be sorely missed by her family. "I've known May Dunlop over 50 years and she was a gracious wee woman in many ways," said Kennedy, who is a DUP Councillor in Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council. "I always found May the same during the long time that I knew her and she was very unassuming - I thought the world of her.

"She has been through a lot and probably always knew what could happen at any given time because of the nature of the sport that the boys were involved in, yet she always supported them, loved them and cared for them. "May accepted that it was the boys' choice to go racing and she just let them get on with it and maybe hoped for the best I suppose. "Her sons Joey and Robert, and grandson William all had very successful careers in motorcycle racing, and Joey more so than any of them, but with the nature of the sport it doesn't matter how good you are, there is always that element of danger which she worried about all the time.

Yet she kept that to herself," added Kennedy, who experienced the cruel side of the sport first-hand himself following brother Frank's death after a crash at the 1979 North West 200. "It's just sad news and her family will miss her sorely, especially coming up to this time of year at Christmas when I'm sure they would have been looking forward to being around her at the table on Christmas Day, but sadly that's not going to happen this year. "She was very dignified, very strong; I never heard May say a bad word about anyone in her life.

Her family will miss her more than anybody." Mrs Dunlop's husband Willie passed away in 2002. Their grandson Michael continues to race and this year became the second most successful rider ever at the Isle of Man TT with 25 victories, only one win behind his uncle Joey's all-time record at the event.

Mrs Dunlop's funeral will take place at Garryduff Presbyterian Church on Thursday at 2pm followed by interment in the adjoining churchyard.