Barry was born during World
War II in ward three of the Erinville Maternity Hospital in Cork City on the banks of the river
Lee in Ireland. His family roots are in West Cork and he is related to Michael Collins one of the founders of the Irish
Free State. He comes from a long line of variety performers stretching
all the way back, it is said, to the founder of the famous Collins Music Hall at the Angel in the heart of the City
of London in the late 1880's
Like
many comics he started by entertaining his classmates and even sometimes his teachers. He started learning his trade professionally
as a Redcoat at Butlins which were a chain of holiday camps dotted around Ireland and the UK. Redcoats organised everything from the knobby knees competition to the weekly variety show.
It was here that he met many
of his contemporaries who are now famous names in the World of Entertainment both in the UK and in the USA.
