Peter Barry (hurler)

Peter Barry (born 24 November 1974) is an Irish retired hurler who played as a left wing-back for the Kilkenny senior team.

Barry made his first appearance for the team during the 1997 championship and was a regular member of the starting fifteen until his retirement after the 2005 championship. During that time he won three All-Ireland winners' medals, five Leinster winners' medals, three National League winners' medals and three All-Star awards. Barry ended up as an All-Ireland runner-up on three occasions.

At club level Barry is a one-time All-Ireland-winning captain with James Stephens. In addition to this he has also won two Leinster medals and two county club championship medals.

Playing career

Club

Barry played his club hurling and football with the famous James Stephens club.

He first enjoyed success at underage levels, winning county minor and under-21 championship medals in the early nineties.

In 2003 Barry won a county football championship medal following a 2-7 to 0-6 defeat of O'Loughlin Gaels.^[1]

Barry added a county hurling championship medal to his collection in 2004 following a 2-16 to 3-12 defeat of Young Irelands.^[2] He later collected a Leinster title, although the one-point defeat of UCD was in controversial circumstances.^[3] The James Stephens club subsequently qualified for the All-Ireland final with Athenry providing the opposition. Barry captained the side and went on to collect a coveted All-Ireland club medal.^[4]

James Stephens retained the county championship in 2005, with Barry winning a second hurling memento following a 1-18 to 2-12 defeat pf Ballyhale Shamrocks.^[5] He later picked up a second Leinster club medal following a second consecutive triumph over UCD.^[6] James Stephens were subsequently trounced by eventual winners Portumna in the All-Ireland semi-final.

Inter-county

Barry first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Kilkenny under-21 inter-county team. He won a Leinster medal at this level in 1994 before later collecting an All-Ireland medal following a victory over Galway in the final. The following year Barry was captain of the side as he collected a second Leinster title, however, his side were later beaten by Tipperary in the final.

Barry joined the Kilkenny senior team in 1996, however, it would be another few years before he became a regular on the team. He won his first Leinster medal in 1998 after a defeat of Offaly in the provincial final. The two sides later met again in the All-Ireland final, however, a rejuvenated Offaly came back and defeated Barry’s side in the championship decider.

Kilkenny gained their revenge on Offaly in the 1999 provincial final, however, Barry missed the game.^[7] The subsequent All-Ireland final saw Cork provide the opposition. 'The Cats' were the red-hot favourites going into the game, however, poor weather meant that the game would not live up to expectations. Both Cork and Kilkenny recorded seventeen wides apiece throughout the match. Kilkenny led by four points entering the last quarter, however, Cork fought back to secure a narrow 0–13 to 0–12 victory over Barry's side.^[8] In spite of this defeat Barry later collected his first All-Star award.

In 2000 Barry won a second Leinster medal following another comfortable 2–21 to 1–13 victory over Offaly. As a result of the so-called 'back-door' system in the championship both sides later faced off against each other again in the All-Ireland final. D.J. Carey capitalised on an Offaly mistake after just six minutes to start a goal-fest for 'the Cats'. Carey scored 2–4 in all, sharing his second goal with Henry Shefflin who also scored a goal in the second-half. At the full-time whistle Kilkenny were the champions by 5–15 to 1–14 and Barry collected his first All-Ireland winners' medal. He later added a second All-Star award to his collection.

Kilkenny's provincial dominance continued in 2001, however, Barry missed the Leinster decider again. After such a huge win ‘the Cats’ were hot favourites to retain their All-Ireland title, however, they were outsmarted by Galway in the All-Ireland semi-final.

‘The Cats’ bounced back in 2002 with Barry claiming a first National Hurling League medal. He subsequently claimed a third Leinster medal before later lining out in another All-Ireland final. Clare, who were defeated in the first-round of the Munster championship but had made it to the final via the newly introduced qualifier system, put up a good fight in that game. A combined tally of 2-13 for both Henry Shefflin and D. J. Carey gave Kilkenny a seven-point victory and secured a second All-Ireland winners' medal for Barry. He was later honoured with his third All-Star award.

Kilkenny's dominance of all hurling competitions continued in 2003. For the second consecutive year Barry won a National League medal following a narrow 5-14 to 5-13 victory over Tipperary. The Leinster hurling counties provided little opposition in the subsequent championship campaign and Kilkenny marched to yet another Leinster title. The 2-23 to 2-12 defeat of Wexford gave Barry a fourth Leinster winners' medal. Subsequent success over Tipperary gave Kilkenny a save passage into an All-Ireland final showdown with Cork. Barry's side were the overwhelming favourites going into the game, however, they never led by more than four points at any stage of the game. Setanta Ó hAilpín scored the equalising goal for Cork after the restart, however, Martin Comerford's goal five minutes before the end clinched a 1-14 to 1-11 victory for Kilkenny.^[9] It was Barry's third All-Ireland winners' medal in the senior grade.

In 2004 Kilkenny were aiming for an elusive third All-Ireland victory in-a-row. For the first time in seven years, however, Kilkenny failed in their bid to become Leinster champions as a last-gasp Wexford goal ended an almost unprecedented run of success at the semi-final stage.^[10] Kilkenny took the scenic route via the qualifiers system, however, after a scare against Clare they still reached the All-Ireland final. For the second year in-a-row Cork provided the opposition on a gloomy and overcast day. The sides were level for much of the game, however, in the final twenty minutes Cork scored nine points without reply and secured the victory.^[11]

Kilkenny were back in form in 2005, with Barry winning a third National League medal following a huge 3-20 to 0-15 victory over Clare.^[12] Kilkenny later defeated Wexford by 0-22 to 1-16 in the provincial decider, giving Barry a fifth Leinster winners' medal.^[13] While a third successive All-Ireland showdown with Cork seemed likely, Galway defeated Kilkenny in the All-Ireland semi-final in one of the game's of the decade. Barry retired from inter-county hurling following this defeat.

Provincial

Barry also lined out with Leinster in the Railway Cup inter-provincial competition, however, he never won a Railway Cup title.

References

Teams