Descendant of Cork’s Katty Barry to compete at boxing event in England

Sat, 02 Mar, 2024 - 12:27

Rachel Lysaght

A DESCENDANT of Cork’s beloved Katty Barry is set to compete for title of Midlands Area Champion at a boxing event in Staffordshire, England.

Pro-boxer, Jessica Barry, also known as Banshee Barry, will be representing the green, white and gold on March 21 as she competes at a traditional Irish-themed dinner show boxing event.

Promoted by The Excelsior Sporting Club at The Premier Suite in Cannock, Ms Barry will be the only female fight on the fight night card, and will go up against UK representative, Sheree Barnes. Detailing the upcoming fight, Ms Barry told The Echo that this will be her fifth pro-outing, but the first event where Banshee Barry will represent Ireland, describing it as a “very proud moment”.

Ms Barry, a 29-year-old ‘smart buildings’ engineer from Coventry, started her boxing journey in 2021 when she described falling into the sport as an amateur, before later taking an interest in pursuing it as a full-time career.

“Boxing was something I fell into as an amateur but absolutely fell in love with the discipline and structure of it,” she said.

Describing her familial ties to Ireland, Ms Barry said her grandfather was born in Cork and was the nephew of Coal Quay queen, Katty Barry. Her grandfather later moved and settled in England, but never forgot his Irish roots, ultimately trickling down to his grand-daughter, Jess.

“I was brought up in an English family, but I have a predominant Irish family background and upbringing. One of my main goals would be to fight for a title in Ireland,” she said. “I would like to be able to achieve this in the next year or so.”

Ms Barry described wanting to keep her Irish ties prevalent in her athletic career, hence choosing the name Banshee Barry, something that was suggested to her by her father three years prior.

“It’s definitely for the Irish background,” she said. “My dad suggested it when I first started boxing, and when I looked into it I thought it was a great name with an Irish link.”

Speaking on her career progression, Ms Barry detailed her hopes for the future as a professional female boxer, saying a full-time career as a fighter would be “the end goal.”