Barry O'Connor enjoying his home comforts with St Martin's
Barry O'Connor (left) and his cousin Rory O'Connor celebrate after the Wexford SHC final win. Photo by Matt Browne/Sportsfile
By Paul Keane
It's eight years since Barry O'Connor top scored for St Peter's College in the 2017 Hogan Cup football final at Croke Park.
The Wexford school didn't win but O'Connor still signposted an immense talent and, the following January, played for his county in the O'Byrne Cup, kicking a winning point against Dublin.
He's 27 now and was at it again last Sunday, providing the inspiration that separated his beloved St Martin's from Na Fianna in a cracking AIB Leinster club championship tie.
Only it wasn't football this time. Rather, a hurling fixture that followed his club's back-to-back of Wexford SHC title successes.
And if you tried to use a straight line to chart his GAA development from 2017 to 2025, you'd fail miserably.
He's actually based in Australia, a legacy of his four years playing Australian Rules football with Sydney Swans and Greater Western Sydney Giants.
When that came to an end in 2023, he jumped into a regular day job in tech sales and stayed living in the area.
"It's a good life out there, I really enjoy it," said O'Connor.
But he has felt the pull of home too and, for the last two seasons, has returned in late summer to play for the St Martin's hurlers and footballers.
It's no coincidence that success has followed in both codes with O'Connor, son of county hurling legend George, getting better and more influential with each game he plays.
Barry O'Connor (left) of St. Peter's College, Wexford in action against Chris O'Donoghue of St Brendan's College, Killarney during the 2017 Masita GAA All-Ireland Post Primary Schools Hogan Cup Final at Croke Park. Photo by Matt Browne/Sportsfile
He hit Na Fianna for 1-2 last Sunday, helping to secure a provincial club SHC semi-final tie against Naas on Sunday week.
"It almost felt like we'd won the county final," said O'Connor, referencing the outpouring of emotion at Chadwicks Wexford Park after the one-point win. I know we have to bring ourselves back down but we also have to acknowledge how big a deal it is to beat the All-Ireland champions."
The St Martin's footballers will travel to Westmeath this Saturday to play Tubberclair in the AIB Leinster club IFC. From the hurlers' starting team last weekend, 10 of them, including O'Connor, are dual players who also lined out in the county intermediate football final.
"It's very important to us as well," said the six-foot-four inch forward of football progress. "We are a dual club and we got relegated in the football a few years back. We found it very hard to get back up to senior. We did it a couple of weeks ago only. It's a bit of a whirlwind at the moment.
"We're obviously going to have to sit down and just reflect on this and figure out how we're going to try to move forward now. But, to be honest, hurling was the focus all last week. That's how we're sort of working it at the moment, week to week."
O'Connor is having the time of his life, playing alongside his cousins Rory, Jack and Joe and making precious new memories with each passing weekend. But he'll return to Australia at some stage.
Barry O’Connor of St Martin's in action against Conor McHugh of Na Fianna during the AIB Leinster club SHC quarter-final at Chadwicks Wexford Park in Wexford. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
"I'll stay until we're finished here," he promised. "My cousin, Jack, is getting married in a few weeks so I definitely can't miss that one. Look, I couldn't miss this for the world."
It's a tricky position he finds himself in; torn between his two homes at either side of the globe. He reckons he will come back to Ireland permanently at some stage.
"Yeah, I do," he said. "It's a very hard one to explain and I won't take up all of your time with it! But, as you know, there's more to life than sport as well. I'm very, very fortunate to be here and to be able to come home and do this. Here is always home.
"I find it hard to picture a world where I'm not spending a lot of time here. But yeah, I wish I knew the answer to that myself. I probably don't right now. At the moment, we're just trying to enjoy what we're experiencing."
O'Connor's influence, particularly on the hurling field, is all the more impressive considering he's only got back for relatively small periods of the 2024 and 2025 club campaigns.
"I was back around the same time this year, as last year, but I didn't actually play as much hurling in the Wexford championship this year," he explained. "Last year's championship helped me massively and then I tip around with the club in Sydney as well, so I managed to get a few games under my belt.
"The club is Craobh Phadraigh. If anyone is moving to Australia, feel free to give them a message! Obviously it's a different level to here but it helps.
"Hurling is a game that you need to be at all the time, if you want to be serious about it. It's an art of a sport, as my Dad says. You can't just pick it up a couple of times a year so I made a conscious effort to stay at it this year."
