Barrett, John, R.N., a distinguished naval officer, born at Drogheda, promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in 1793, and afterwards to that of Post-Captain. He saw much service; and in 1810, returning in the Minotaur, 74, in charge of a convoy of one hundred sail from the Baltic, he perished with 490 out of a crew of 600, in consequence of the ignorance of the pilot. After the vessel struck, he said to an officer who evinced some undue eagerness to save himself: "Sir, true courage is better shown by coolness and composure; we all owe nature a debt, let us pay it like men of honour," 349 146
Barrington, Sir Jonah, was born 1760 or '67, the fourth of sixteen children of John Barrington of Knapton, near Abbeyleix, Queen's County. His pleasing presence, lively conversation, talents, and pushing activity, contributed largely to his advance in public life. He was called to the Bar, 1788, and two years afterwards, as Member for Tuam, he entered Parliament, where, he says, "I directed my earliest effort against Grattan and Curran, and on the first day of my rising, exhibited a specimen of what I may now call true arrogance." He was rewarded by Government for his arrogance, in 1793, by a sinecure in the Custom-house, worth £1,000 a-year, and a silk gown. He lost his seat in 1798; but sat for Banagher in 1799. He boldly voted against the Union, though it deprived him of his sinecure and stopped his further advancement. Nevertheless, most inconsistently, he acted as government procurer for bribing at least one member to vote for it. In 1803 he was an unsuccessful candidate for the city of Dublin in the Imperial Parliament, although Grattan, Curran, Ponsonby, and Plunket voted for him. The Government now thought he was worth buying again, and accordingly made him judge in the Admiralty Court, and knighted him. In 1809 he published, in five parts, the first volume of the Historic Memoirs of Ireland. It is thought that he was induced to delay the second volume—the Government shrinking from the exposure of their conduct in carrying the Union, and it was understood that to purchase his silence he was permitted to reside in France from about 1815, and act as judge by deputy. This foreign residence was, indeed, necessitated by embarrassments arising from his extravagant mode of living, and the dishonourable stratagems he often resorted to in business transactions. In 1827, he published two volumes of Personal Sketches of his own Time. In 1830, by an address from both Houses of Parliament, he was removed from the Bench, in consequence of well-proven misappropriation of public moneys. In 1833 appeared the third volume of Personal Sketches, and in the same year the delayed volume of his Historic Memoirs. This book was subsequently reproduced in a cheaper form as The Rise and Fall of the Irish Nation. His works are interesting, racy, and valuable—although his statements of fact cannot always be depended on—containing much of personal incident, related in a fascinating style. He died at Versailles, 8th April 1834. 22 254(1)
Barry, Sir David, an eminent physician and physiologist, remarkable for his classical and mathematical acquirements. He was born in Roscommon, 12th March 1780; he completed his medical education at home, and entered the army as an Assistant-Surgeon. Having distinguished himself in the Peninsular War, he settled at Oporto as surgeon to the Portuguese forces. There he married Miss Whately, sister of the future Archbishop. Returning to England in 1820, he perfected himself by further study, and in 1826 published his researches relative to the absorption of poison, and the means of counteracting it by the application of cupping-glasses. He was employed by Government in several medical inquiries, both at home and abroad, and was one of the commissioners in the investigations that led to the Factory Acts, His work on hydrophobia and venomous bites is declared in Allibone "to be very important, and to display great ability." He died in London, of aneurism, 5th November 1835, aged 55. 16 42 146
Barry, James, a distinguished artist, was born in Cork, 11th October 1741. His father was captain of a coaster, and desired that his son should follow his calling; the lad consequently spent part of his youth at sea, displaying greater zeal in chalking sketches on the bulwarks than in learning to be a sailor. The love of art was a passion with him. On shore he worked incessantly—sitting up whole nights drawing and transcribing pictures from books, while his fancy was fed by the legends of saints and martyrs related to him by his Catholic mother—whose religion he embraced in preference to that of his Protestant father. In 1763, at the age of twenty-two, he made his way to Dublin, taking with him a number of historical paintings—amongst the rest, "Æneas escaping from Troy," a "Dead Christ," "Susanna and Elders," "Daniel in the Lion's Den," "Abraham's Sacrifice," and "Saint Patrick baptizing the King of Cashel," This last found a place in the exhibition of
