Tom Barry (Paperback)

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Thomas (Tom) Barry (Irish: Tomas de Barra) (1 July 1897 - 2 July 1980) was one of the most prominent guerrilla leaders in the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence. Barry was born in Killorglin, County Kerry, the son of a former RIC officer who had become a shopkeeper. He was educated for a period at Mungret College, County Limerick from 25 August 1911 to 12 September 1912. The reason for his short stay is indicated by a reference from the school register of the Apostolic School, Mungret College, 'Went - Home (ran away) without knowledge of superiors - no vocation'. In 1915, during World War I, he enlisted in the British Army and fought in Mesopotamia (then part of the Ottoman Empire, present day Iraq). He rose to the rank of sergeant. It was there Barry first heard of the Easter Rising.