Thomas J. Barry (20 August 1879 - 23 May 1969) was an Irish sportsman and revolutionary figure. He was a leading hurler and

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

er in the early 20th century and was the last-surviving member of the London-Irish team that won the All-Ireland Championship in

1901 Events January * January 1 – The Crown colony, British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria (Australia), Victoria and Western Australia Federation of Australia, federate as the Australia, ...

Biography

Raised near

Glanworth Glanworth () is a village on the R512 road (Ireland), R512 regional road in County Cork, Ireland. It lies approximately northwest of the town of Fermoy and northeast of Cork (city), Cork city. As of 2016, Glanworth's population was 603. Glanwo ...

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

, Barry was one of fifteen children born to Timothy Barry, a farmer, and his wife Hannah. He was educated by the Christian Brothers in Fermoy before emigrating to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1895 where he was an apprentice in the furniture trade. Barry joined a number of Irish nationalist groups in London, including the Irish Republican Brotherhood. Already a promising hurler and Gaelic footballer before his emigration, he joined the Hibernians club and was later selected for the London-Irish teams as a dual player. On 2 August 1903, Barry won an All-Ireland Championship medal after London's 1-05 to 0-04 defeat of

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

in the All-Ireland final at

Jones' Road Croke Park ( ga, Páirc an Chrócaigh, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and hea ...

. It remains the only time in the history of the championship that the title was taken overseas. Two years after returning to

in 1911, Barry joined the Irish Volunteers and was later elected to its executive committee. He was also the president of the Cork Young Ireland Society. During the

1916 Easter Rising The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the a ...

, Barry was one of a large group of Cork Volunteers that marched to Macroom in anticipation of a widespread rebellion, only to find that the order for mobilisation had been countermanded. Barry spent his final years as managing director of his own auctioneering firm. He died in Cork on 23 May 1969.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barry, Tom 1879 births 1969 deaths London inter-county hurlers All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship winners