17-4-25 : A day in Temple Bar – 1990

In May 1991, Tottenham lifted the FA Cup after beating Nottingham Forest 2–1 at Wembley. The streets of Tottenham came alive with joy and pride. I was there with my camera, capturing the black-and-white energy of the fans spilling out to celebrate a legendary win. These photos hold the spirit of that day — raw, proud, unforgettable.

Inspired by the colour, energy, and DIY spirit of punk, Barry left the grey Dublin of the early 1980s to travel the world, where he fell in love with documentary photography in New York. Twenty years ago, he turned his lens back to inner-city Dublin, a project that became Stars and Souls of the Liffey — exhibited at the GPO in 2019 and later published as a sold-out Hi Tone book. In 2016, he returned to America to document life around the presidential election, producing his second Hi Tone book, Americans Anonymous, with poems by John O’Donnell. In 2022, his photograph Forty Footer was shortlisted for the Zurich Portrait Prize at the National Gallery. The following summer, he released Forty Footers, a book marking 20 years of swimming and photographing at the iconic Forty Foot. For Barry’s book Americans Anonymous, please follow this link. https://hitonebooks.ie/#/americans-anonymous/

In 1993, the first salmon of the season — the traditional opener for Dublin’s angling year — was caught on a stunning spring day by a member of the Island bridge Fishing Club. As the sun lit up the River Liffey, anglers gathered in quiet excitement, watching the water for signs of life. Landing that first fish wasn’t just a personal triumph — it marked the official start of the season, a moment steeped in tradition and hope for the months ahead.