Beginnings

Barry first played for Cork as a member of the minor hurling team on 9 June 1946. He scored a goal on his debut in a 6–3 to 2–2 Munster quarter-final defeat of Clare.

On 30 November 1947 Barry made his senior debut for Cork in a 7–5 to 5–5 league group game defeat by Wexford. He scored 3–1 on that occasion and became a regular player throughout the subsequent stages of the league. He was at left corner-forward for the subsequent final against Tipperary, and collected his first National Hurling League medal after Cork's 3-3 to 1–2 victory. On 18 July 1948 Daly made a goal-scoring senior championship debut in a 5–3 to 2–5 Munster semi-final defeat of Limerick.

Barry was an unused substitute for Cork during their unsuccessful championship campaign in 1948, before making his championship debut as a substitute on 26 June 1949 in a 2–8 to 1–9 Munster quarter-finale extra time defeat by Tipperary.

Three-in-a-row

After being confined to the substitutes' bench again in 1950, Barry was dropped from the championship panel the following year. A successful club championship campaign with Sarsfield's saw Barry secure a regular place on the starting fifteen as captain in 1952. After a period of dominance by Tipperary between 1949 and 1951, Cork bounced back that year. A late Barry goal gave Cork a 1–11 to 2–6 defeat of four-in-a-row hopefuls Tipperary. It was his first Munster medal. On 7 September 1952 Cork faced Dublin in the All-Ireland decider. An appendicitis ruled Joe Hartnett out of the game, resulting in Daly being switched to centre-forward. Liam Dowling scored a vital goal in the first half to give Cork the interval lead. Dublin's attack collapsed in the second half as Dowling scored a second goal. The 2–14 to 0–7 victory gave Barry his first All-Ireland medal, while he also had the honour of lifting the Liam MacCarthy Cup.^[4]

Barry added a second league medal to his collection in 1953 as Cork defeated Tipperary by 2–10 to 2–7. In the subsequent provincial championship he won a second Munster medal as Cork once again downed their arch rivals by 3–10 to 1–11. On 6 September 1953 Cork faced Galway in what was one of the dirtiest All-Ireland deciders of all time. Galway went into the game with the intention of upsetting their opponents physically and did just that, however, the game remains clouded in controversy due to the injury to the Galway captain, Mick Burke. The result remained in doubt right up to the final whistle, however, Cork secured a 3–3 to 0–8 victory. Barry had won his second All-Ireland medal. After the match at the Gresham Hotel in Dublin a fight broke out when another Galway player struck Cork's Christy Ring. The following morning another fight broke out when another member of the Galway panel attempted to hit Ring. The fights, however, ended just as quickly as they had started.^[5][6]

Cork secured a third successive provincial title in 1954, with Barry collecting a third Munster medal following a narrow 2–8 to 1–8 defeat of Tipperary. A record crowd of 84,856 attended the subsequent All-Ireland decider on 5 September 1954 with Wexford providing the opposition. Wexford had a four-point lead with seventeen minutes left to play, however, history was against the Leinster champions when Johnny Clifford scored the winning goal for Cork with just four minutes left. A narrow 1–9 to 1–6 victory secured a third successive All-Ireland for Cork and for Barry.^[7]

Decline

Four-in-a-row proved beyond Cork, however, the team bounced back in 1956. A 5–5 to 3–5 defeat of Limerick, courtesy of a hat trick of goals by Christy Ring, secured a fourth Munster medal in five seasons for Barry. This victory allowed Cork to advance directly to an All-Ireland final meeting with Wexford on 23 September 1956. The game has gone down in history as one of the all-time classics as Christy Ring was bidding for a record ninth All-Ireland medal. The game turned on one important incident as the Wexford goalkeeper, Art Foley, made a miraculous save from a Ring shot and cleared the sliotar up the field to set up another attack. Nicky Rackard scored a crucial goal with two minutes to go giving Wexford a 2–14 to 2–8 victory.^[8][9]

Cork hurling took a sharp downturn over the next few years as Waterford and Tipperary became the dominant teams in the provincial championship. Defeat in the provincial decider in 1961 brought the curtain down on Barry's inter-county career.

Two years later in 1963 Barry was recalled to the Cork team and installed on the starting fifteen for the Munster semi-final. A 4–7 to 1–11 defeat by Tipperary was the result on that occasion.

Barry remained on the starting fifteen in 1964, however, Cork faced a 3–13 to 1–5 trouncing by Tipperary in the provincial decider.