Barry Foley was born in Patrickswell, County Limerick in 1977. He was born into a family that had a strong association with the game of hurling. His father and uncles all played for Patrickswell and one uncle, Seán Foley, won an All-Ireland medal in 1973.
Foley was educated locally and later attended secondary school in Limerick.
Club
Foley plays his club hurling with Patrickswell. He has enjoyed much success with the club, winning county medals at under-14, under-15, under-16, minor and under-21 levels. In 2006 Foley narrowly missed out on winning a sixth medal when Patrickswell were defeated by a single point by Bruree.
Inter-county
In the early 1990s Foley played for both the Limerick minor and under-21 hurling teams, however, he had little success.
In 1996 he made his senior debut in a Munster Championship game against Clare. In the subsequent All-Ireland final Foley’s side lost out to Wexford.
Here he won a Harty Cup medal in 1993 and was named ‘Manitoba of the Match’ in the final. In 1995 Foley won his first senior county medal. He added another two county medals in 1996 and 1997 before winning his fourth and fifth county titles in 2000 and 2003. Limerick later went on to win the Munster final and Foley had his first senior inter-county success. The following year he won his first National Hurling League medal, however, since then Limerick’s senior hurling fortunes have taken a downturn and Foley has failed to add any more winners’ medals to his collection.
He plays hurling with his local club Patrickswell and was a member of the Limerick senior inter-county team from 1996 untl 2008.
