Barry

Language & meaning

Meaning & Irish forms

Hiberno-Norman Mainly Hiberno-Norman, from the Cambro-Norman de Barrys of Cork, with smaller Gaelic families of Ó Beargha and Ó Báire absorbed under the same English form.^[1][2][3][4]

The name is built on the personal name Barri (place name), usually explained as “the place the Norman family took its name from”. Woulfe thought Barri was probably in Normandy. Wikipedia derives the family's name from Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. The Gaelic forms are different: Beargh is glossed 'spear-like', and Báire is a short form of Barrfhionn or Fionnbharr, 'fair-head'.^{[1][2][7][3][4]}

Place

Where the Barrys lived

How common the name was in each county, as a share of the population, in the three surviving full censuses of Ireland. Use the buttons to compare years.

Origins

Septs & territories

Many Irish surnames were adopted independently by unrelated families. These are the distinct Barry lineages described in the sources.

A surname can point you towards a place. On its own, it cannot establish a pedigree.

The name over time

History

A Norman name from Wales

The Barrys of Ireland descend from a Cambro-Norman family of south Wales. Gerald of Wales, born about 1146 at Manorbier in Pembrokeshire, was the youngest son of William FitzOdo de Barry, whom Wikipedia calls the common ancestor of the de Barrys of Barry in Glamorgan who went on to invade Ireland. Sources differ on the place name itself: Woulfe thought Barri was probably in Normandy, while Wikipedia takes it from Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan. In Irish the family became de Barra, and Woulfe ranks it among the oldest and most distinguished Anglo-Norman families in Ireland.^[7][2][1][6]

Philip de Barry and the Cork cantreds

Gerald's brother Philip de Barry, from Manorbier, founded the Cork family. Woulfe dates to 1179 the grant by his uncle Robert FitzStephen of three cantreds, later the baronies of Barrymore, Orrery and Kinelea, and says King John confirmed it in 1207 to Philip's son William. Wikipedia describes Philip arriving in February 1183 with Gerald to take possession, and names the cantreds as Olethan, Muskerry Donegan and Killyde, held for the service of ten knights. Olethan, the old kingdom of Uí Liatháin, became the barony of Barrymore. Philip died around 1200 and was buried at Manorbier.^[1][8][10]

Barons, viscounts and earls

The head of the family was Baron Barry from about 1261; the first baron, David de Barry, was appointed chief justice of Ireland by Henry III in 1267. Buttevant became their principal stronghold in north Cork, and in 1234 Henry III granted David Óg de Barry a market and fair there. The barons were made viscounts Buttevant in 1541, and in 1627/28 David Barry, 6th Viscount, was created Earl of Barrymore. He was a Protestant and died of wounds received at the battle of Liscarroll in 1642. The titles died out with the 8th earl in 1823; a barony of Barrymore was created for Arthur Smith-Barry in 1902.^[9][14][15]

Great Barry, Red Barry

Like other Norman families in Ireland, the Barrys took on Gaelic ways. Woulfe records the Irish styles used for the heads of their branches. The senior chief was An Barrach Mór, 'the Great Barry', and the others were known by epithets meaning red (Ruadh), young (Óg), bald (Maol) and strong (Láidir). One branch, at Rathcormac and Ballynagloch, even adopted a Gaelic patronymic, Mac Ádaim. Barryscourt Castle near Carrigtwohill belonged to the senior Barrymore line until it died out and passed in 1556 to James FitzRichard of the Barryroe line. In 1581, during the Desmond rebellions, the Barrys damaged their own castles rather than let Sir Walter Raleigh's forces take them.^[1][11][16]

The Gaelic Barrys

Not every Barry is of Norman descent. Woulfe describes Ó Beargha, a Limerick family who were early lords of Iveross in the barony of Kenry, and believed many east Limerick Barrys belonged to it. Another Ó Beargha family in Tirawley, Co. Mayo, was thought by John O'Donovan to have died out. In west Cork, the Ó Báire family of Corca Laoighdhe held Muintir Bháire, the Sheep's Head peninsula, and survived as Barrys. Wikipedia suggests that the clusters of the surname in Limerick and in west Cork may reflect these two Gaelic origins.^{[3][4][1][2][13]}

Beyond Cork

Woulfe notes that the Barrys suffered badly in the 17th-century wars but were still numerous across Munster in his day, and Wikipedia says the name is most common in Munster and south Leinster. Woulfe also records a Barry family in Co. Wexford, and Burke gives arms to Barrys descended from a David de Barrie who landed in Wexford with Robert FitzStephen in 1170. Another branch, said by Burke to be of the same stock as the earls, held the title Lord Santry from 1661 until 1751. Commodore John Barry, credited by some as the father of the American navy, was born at Tacumshane in Co. Wexford.^{[1][2][12][17]}

Places linked to the name

• Buttevant, Co. Cork — Chief Barry stronghold in north Cork; its name is said to come from the family motto.^[14]
• Barrymore (Barraigh Mhóra), Co. Cork — Barony named after the family, formed from the cantred of Olethan granted to Philip de Barry.^[10][1]
• Barryscourt Castle (Caisleán Chúirt an Bharraigh), Co. Cork — Tower house near Carrigtwohill, seat of the Barrymore and later Barryroe lines.^[16]
• Kenry (Caonraí), Co. Limerick — Barony containing Iveross, whose early lords were the Gaelic Ó Beargha.^[3][18]
• Sheep's Head (Muntervary) (Rinn Mhuintir Bháire), Co. Cork — Headland named from Muintir Bháire, the territory of the Ó Báire family.^[13][4]

Everyday lives

The Barrys in the census

Who the Barrys were in the 1901 and 1911 censuses (and 1926 where recorded), set against everyone in Ireland in the same census.

Barrys All of Ireland Ireland's figure marked on the Barry bar

Given names

First names among the Barrys

All three censuses combined. Top five in 1926: John, Patrick, Michael, James, Thomas; Mary, Margaret, Bridget, Ellen, Kate.

Spellings

Spellings

This page combines the spellings below, which census enumerators and families used for the same name.

Related forms

• de Barry — The Norman form with its particle, used by the early barons.^[1][9]
• de Barri, Barri — The original Norman spelling, used by Gerald of Wales (Gerald de Barri).^[1][7]
• Barrie — An English form Woulfe records for Ó Beargha; also a variant of the given name.^[3][2]
• O'Barry — Early English forms O Barrie and O Barry are recorded for the Gaelic Ó Beargha.^[3]
• MacAdam — Taken by the Barrys of Rathcormac and Ballynagloch, from the Irish Mac Ádaim.^[11]
• Smith-Barry — A double-barrelled form borne by descendants of the 4th Earl of Barrymore, including the 1st Baron Barrymore of 1902.^[9]

Diaspora

The Barrys abroad

Emigration carried the name worldwide. In the 2010 United States census:

Source: US Census Bureau, 2010 surname file (public domain).

Heraldry

Is there a Barry coat of arms?

People

Notable people named Barry

• Gerald of Wales (Gerald de Barri) (c.1146–c.1223)
  Cambro-Norman churchman and historian whose writings describe 12th-century Ireland and Wales.
• Philip de Barry (fl. 1183)
  Cambro-Norman knight who founded the Barry family of Co. Cork.
• Spranger Barry (1719–1777)
  Dublin-born actor who first appeared at Smock Alley in 1744.
• James Barry (1741–1806)
  Cork-born painter of The Progress of Human Culture at the Royal Society of Arts.
• John Barry (1745–1803)
  Wexford-born officer of the Continental Navy, often called a father of the US Navy.
• James Barry (c.1789–1865)
  Cork-born British Army surgeon, born Margaret Anne Bulkley.
• Leonora Barry (1849–1923)
  Cork-born labour activist, the only woman in national office in the Knights of Labor.
• Tom Barry (1897–1980)
  IRA guerrilla leader of the 3rd Cork Brigade in the War of Independence.
• Kevin Barry (1902–1920)
  Medical student and IRA volunteer executed during the War of Independence.
• Peter Barry (1928–2016)
  Fine Gael Minister for Foreign Affairs and briefly Tánaiste.
• Rick Barry (born 1944)
  American basketball player, among the most prolific scorers in the game's history.
• Sebastian Barry (born 1955)
  Novelist, playwright and poet, Laureate for Irish Fiction 2018–2021.

Questions

Questions about the Barry name

Evidence

Sources

1. Patrick Woulfe, de Barra, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
2. Wikipedia, Barry (name) (2026)
3. Patrick Woulfe, Ó Beargha, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
4. Patrick Woulfe, Ó Báire, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
5. Patrick Woulfe, a Barra, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
6. Gaois research group, Dublin City University, Sloinnte: Irish surnames database (2022). Modern standard Irish forms.
7. Wikipedia, Gerald of Wales (2026)
8. Wikipedia, Philip de Barry (2026)
9. Wikipedia, Earl of Barrymore (2026)
10. Wikipedia, Barrymore (barony) (2026)
11. Patrick Woulfe, Mac Ádaim, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
12. Sir Bernard Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales (1884). Entries 'Barry (Ireland)', 'Barry (Viscount Buttevant)', 'Barry (Earl of Barrymore)' and 'Barry (Lord Santry)'.
13. Wikipedia, Sheep's Head (2026)
14. Wikipedia, Buttevant (2026)
15. Wikipedia, David Barry, 1st Earl of Barrymore (2026)
16. Wikipedia, Barryscourt Castle (2026)
17. Wikipedia, John Barry (naval officer) (2026)
18. Wikipedia, Kenry (2026)
19. Census of Ireland 1901 and 1911, and Census of Population 1926, National Archives of Ireland. Counts compiled by surnames.ie from the irishcensus.com transcription (dataset 20260831130351). 1926 data © National Archives of Ireland, CC BY 4.0.

How we compile these figures: methodology.