"But more importantly he did those things with a level of integrity equally supreme. He did things that didn’t seem humanly possible. bowl over the Chetwynd Viaduct, lofting Mary Anne’s pub on Dublin Hill, 4 in-a-row Munster titles achieved twice, it goes on and on. The sport is littered with his records, like putting a 16 oz. “What is certain is Mick Barry was the greatest bowler of all time. “At the start of that phenomenal period he was 43 and 56 at the end is there any sports man in any code who could emulate that? At 75 years of age he covered the road in 18 shots, better than the majority of players could do at 25. For a team that would be incredible, but he had to do it on his own in a highly competitive sport where one mistake could signal defeat. He twice completed the four in a row from 1964 to19 to 1972. “From 1962 until 1975 he was Munster Senior champion in all but three years. He lorded bowling like no player before or since. Here was a supreme athlete, oozing confidence, in possession of every award his sport could conjure. “There’s an iconic photo of Barry crouched on his lawn at Waterfall surrounded by a plethora of cups and trophies. "University College Cork, where he worked as head gardener, honoured him with an honorary degree and he was named Supreme Bowler of the Millennium by Ból-Chumann na hÉireann in 1999. “Cork City Council named a road in his honour. He occupied an unparalleled place in the sport and indeed his fame transcended bowling.
“Mick Barry, the greatest road bowl player of all time, died on Saturday just a few weeks short of his 96th birthday.
Here is Seamus ó Tuama’s tribute to him shortly after his death in December 2014. I had a vague notion that he was a well-known bowler – a ‘foreign game’ to me – but in conversation with him over time it began to dawn on me that here was a very special sportsman indeed.Īfter many failed attempts I eventually persuaded him to bring me out to his home in Waterfall where I photographed him with his many trophies.įrom there it was but a small step to photograph him in action on the side roads north of Cork City. Mick Barry with a collection of his road bowling cups and trophies. Two-stroke engines were – and still are! – a mystery to me and so I had cause to visit Mick more than most and, in time, I got to know him quite well.
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