He was a leading hurler and Gaelic footballer in the early 20th century and was the last-surviving member of the London-Irish team that won the All-Ireland Championship in 1901.
He was educated by the Christian Brothers in Fermoy before emigrating to London in 1895 where he was an apprentice in the furniture trade.
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.
Two years after returning to Cork in 1911, Barry joined the Irish Volunteers and was later elected to its executive committee.
During the 1916 Easter Rising, 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.