[1][2] In 1972, he earned a Masters in Education from Queen's University Belfast, and subsequently completed his Ph.D. in the same institution in 1981, with a thesis on "A consideration of the growth of the concept of the community school, with particular reference to its development since 1930 in Great Britain and the United States of America.".

[6] Despite being from Ulster, he was eligible to play for Leinster by virtue of the fact he was a student in Trinity College Dublin.

Footage from 1960 of a doubles match Wilkinson played in against Ulster survives in the Irish Film Institute archive.

[7] That year Wilkinson was first called up to the Ireland national badminton team as a men's doubles player in a Thomas Cup match against Denmark.

Beginning in December 1961, Wilkinson succeeded in the men's singles of the Irish National Badminton Championships.