James Barry

James Barry (born 29 June 1990) is an Irish hurler who plays for Tipperary Senior Championship club Upperchurch–Drombane.

He played for the Tipperary senior hurling team for six seasons, during which time he usually lined out in defence as a centre-back and later as a full-back.

Barry began his hurling career at club level with Upperchurch-Drombane.

He broke onto the club's top adult team as a 15-year-old in 2005 and has been an ever-present defender since then.

As a member of the University College Cork team, Barry won back-to-back Fitzgibbon Cup titles.

Barry lined out for Tipperary in four different grades of hurling over a 12-year period.

After making his first appearance for the minor team in May 2007, he ended the year by sharing in the All-Ireland Championship success.

Barry was just 16-years-old when he was selected for the Tipperary minor hurling team prior to the start of the 2007 Munster Championship.

He made his first appearance for the team on 2 May 2007 when he came on as a 26th-minute substitute for Joe Gallagher at midfield in a 3-12 to 1-11 defeat of Clare.

Barry was again named on the bench when Tipperary faced Cork in the Munster final on 8 July 2007.

He was again introduced as a substitute and ended the game with a winners' medal following the 0-18 to 1-11 victory.

On 2 September 2007, Barry was selected at right wing-back when Tipperary faced Cork in the All-Ireland final.

He ended the game with an All-Ireland medal following the 3-14 to 2-11 victory.

On 8 March 2008, he lined out at centre-back when Thurles CBS suffered a 1-11 to 0-07 defeat by De La Salle College from Waterford in the Harty Cup final.

Barry was again at centre-back when Thurles CBS and De La Salle renewed their rivalry in the All-Ireland final.

The game ended in a 1-15 to 2-12 draw.

The replay a week later saw Barry end up on the losing side following a 2-09 to 2-08 victory for De La Salle College.

Barry was again eligible for the Tipperary minor team in 2008.

He lined out at right wing-back when Tipperary suffered a 0-19 to 0-18 defeat by Cork in the Munster final on 13 July 2008.

On 7 March 2009, Barry captained Thurles CBS to a second successive appearance in the Harty Cup final.

A 3-15 to 0-10 defeat of St. Caimin's Community School from Shannon saw him claim a winners' medal.

An injury resulted in Barry being named on the bench for the All-Ireland final against Good Counsel College from New Ross on 13 April 2009.

He came on as a half-time substitute and collected a winners' medal following the 1-17 to 1-15 victory.

Barry studied at University College Cork and joined the senior hurling team in his second year at the university.

Two years with the under-21 team yielded an All-Ireland Championship title in 2010 while he later collected an All-Ireland Championship medal with the intermediate team in 2012.

On 14 July 2010, Barry made his first appearance for the Tipperary under-21 team.

He lined out at right wing-back when Tipperary defeated Cork by 2-17 to 0-21.

Barry was again at right wing-back when Tipperary faced Clare in the Munster final on 28 July 2010.

He ended the game with a Munster Championship medal following the 1-22 to 1-17 victory.

On 3 March 2012, he was at right wing-back when UCC defeated the Cork Institute of Technology by 2-15 to 2-14 to win the Fitzgibbon Cup.

On 2 March 2013, Barry lined out at right wing-back in a second consecutive Fitzgibbon Cup final.

He ended the game with a second winners' medal following UCC's 2-17 to 2-12 defeat of Mary Immaculate College.

Barry joined the Upperchurch–Drombane club at a young age and played in all grades at juvenile and underage levels, enjoying championship success in the under-21 grade.

He was just 15-years-old when he first became involved in Upperchurch–Drombane's top adult team.

Barry made his competitive debut for the senior team aged 23 in 2014.

Barry also claimed back-to-back Munster Championships in 2015 and 2016 as well as an All-Star.

Over the following six seasons he made a combined total of 51 National League and Championship appearances and won All-Ireland Championship medals at full-back in 2016 and as a non-playing substitute in 2019.

He announced his retirement from inter-county hurling on 25 October 2019.

Barry first came to prominence as a hurler with Thurles CBS.

He played in every grade before eventually joining the college's senior team.