John Barry was the son of John Milner Barry of Cork, the first doctor to introduce vaccination into an Irish town, and his wife Mary, daughter of William Phair of Brooklodge near Cork. He studied medicine at Paris from 1833 to 1836 and graduated at Edinburgh a year later. His first practices were at Laugharne and Totnes. In 1852 he settled permanently at Tunbridge Wells. There he served as physician to the Infirmary and Dispensary and made various contributions to medical journals.

G H Brown

[D.N.B., iii, 326 (Life of Barry’s father)]