Kevin Gerard Barry

The fourth of seven children, two boys and five sisters

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Kevin Barry (1902-1920) was born at No. 8 Fleet Street in Dublin. He was the fourth of seven children born to the Barry family who ran a dairy business. When he was 15 he joined Auxiliary C Company of the First Battalion Dublin Brigade of the Irish Volunteers. On the 20th of September 1920, a few hours before he was due to re-sit one of his first year medical exams, Barry was involved in a raid on a British Army lorry. He was discovered and arrested.

Three British soldiers died as a result of the raid. On the 20th of October, Barry was court marshalled, charged with the murder of Pvt. Matthew Whitehead. As a republican he refused to recognise the court and did not offer a defence. He was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death. Despite international outcry, Kevin Bary was hanged in Mountjoy Jail on the 1 November 1920 and was buried in the grounds of the Prison. It was not until October 2001 that his remains, and those of nine other IRA men executed in 1921, were reinterred in Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin.

The execution of Kevin Bary did not produce the effect that the authorities had sought. In fact, public opinion in Ireland and abroad swung decisively behind Sinn Fein. In many respects the execution of this 18-year-old NCO represents one of the most important turning points in the Anglo-Irish War.