Tom Barry (Irish republican)

Thomas Bernardine Barry (1 July 1897 – 2 July 1980) was an Irish republican. He was a prominent guerrilla leader in the Irish Republican Army (IRA) during the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War. Barry is often known for orchestrating the Kilmichael ambush, in which he and his flying column attacked an 18-man patrol of Auxiliaries, killing sixteen men.

Born in County Kerry, Barry was the son of a former Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) constable. In 1915, at the age of seventeen, he joined the British Army and would go on to see action as a gunner in the Middle East during the First World War. Despite expressing some British patriotism during his early years, Barry's views slowly began to change towards Irish republicanism. In his memoir, Barry stated that this started shortly after he heard about the Easter Rising in 1916, though records show that after the war he made two unsuccessful attempts at joining the British Civil Service. In July 1920, he joined the IRA's 3rd Cork Brigade. Using his experience from his time in the British Army, he was able to train up the men in the flying column so it could become an effective fighting unit. Barry then became the column's overall commander and would lead the Brigade in a number of successful attacks against British forces, including the ambushes at Kilmichael and Crossbarry.