BILL Kirk, an acclaimed photographer from Newtownards, passed away at the age of 88 on December 12.
Born in Newtownards in 1937, William McKellar Kirk began his photography with a Felica camera he purchased in Drogheda in 1958.
Having been made redundant from Shorts in 1972, Mr Kirk took up studying photography at the Art College, Belfast, and his professional work was featured by the former Northern
Ireland Tourist Board.
Described as a photographer who ‘offered a complex perspective’ on Northern Ireland, Mr Kirk’s archive amounted to over 20,000 images.
In April 2025, an exhibition entitled Bill Kirk 100 photographs’ and curated by Frankie Quinn for the Belfast Archive Project, was staged at the Ulster Museum.
The collection was split into six sections with one dedicated to images of the Troubles, and another to the corner shops prevalent in the 1970s.
The images also included family members, a self portrait and scenes in Newtownards.
Mr Kirk had a long association with Ards Cycling Club, and was still cycling until two years ago.
A private family committal followed a funeral service in S Clarke & Sons, Newtownards, on
December 20.
Bill Kirk is predeceased by his son Billy and survived by his wife, Mary, sons
Clifford, Leonard and Brendan, and daughter Diane.
