Joey in Action

The exhibition, titled ‘Ulster’s TT Heroes’, celebrates the TT race wins of Northern Ireland’s best riders throughout the event’s history.

It includes a look at the contribution of the Dunlop family; from ‘Joey’, who recorded 26 TT race victories in a 25-year career of racing on the Mountain Course, and his brother Robert, himself a five0time race winner, in the 70s, 80s and 90s through to the modern legend Michael, who now has 11 TT Race wins.

Two of Joey’s bikes and his iconic 1988 yellow Arai helmet will be on display together with memorabilia highlighting the careers of the other Dunlop family members.

Other riders featured include 1980s stars Norman Brown and Brian Reid.

Brown famously finished on the podium in every race he completed on the Isle of Man including race wins in the 1981 MGP Newcomers race and the Senior TT in 1982, his debut TT year, while Reid’s notable TT career included five race victories spanning the 80s and 90s. Recent riders whose careers also feature include Adrian Archibald and Ryan Farquhar.

Phillip McCallen’s historic four wins in a week in 1996 are covered in the exhibition, with McCallen’s total of 11 TT race wins placing him fifth on the all-time list of TT race winners alongside Michael Dunlop, but it is his distressed leathers from the following year’s TT, when he crashed at Quarry Bends in the Lightweight TT race, that are expected to generate particular interest.

The exhibition includes information from Northern Ireland’s Ballymoney Museum, which have been complemented by memorabilia provided by riders, teams, manufacturers and motorcycling brands associated with the event.

Manx National Heritage has also used items from its own archive, including personal telegrams and letters from the papers of David Wood, Joey’s manager for many years.

The exhibition, has no admission fee and will be held at the House of Manannan in Peel.

It will run from March 28 to September 6, coinciding with this year’s TT Races, Southern 100 and Festival of Motorcycling.

It will be open every day between 10am and 5pm.

Suzanne Walker, the curator of the exhibition and site manager of the House of Manannan, said: