{{Short description|Irish Gaelic footballer}} {{Use Hiberno-English|date=March 2021}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}} {{Infobox Gaelic games player | code = Football | sport = Gaelic football | image = | name = Barry McGowan | irish = | feet = | inches = | occupation = ESB worker | county = Donegal | province = Ulster | club = [[CLG Na Cealla Beaga|Na Cealla Beaga]] | clposition = | clubs = | clyears = ?–? | clapps(points) = | clcounty = | clprovince = | clallireland = | counties = [[Donegal county football team|Donegal]] | icposition = Corner back | icyears = 1989–1998 | icapps(points) = | icprovince = 2 | icallireland = 1 | nfl = | allstars = | clupdate = | icupdate = | birth_date = January 1967 | birth_place = }} '''Barry McGowan''' (born January 1967)<ref name=last_day/> is an Irish former [[Gaelic football]]er who played for [[CLG Na Cealla Beaga|Na Cealla Beaga]] and the [[Donegal county football team|Donegal county team]].

As of 2009, he was working for the [[ESB Group|ESB]].<ref name=heroes_of_92/>

==Inter-county== McGowan won the [[1987 All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship]] with Donegal.<ref name=heroes_of_92>{{cite news|first=Alan|last=Foley|url=http://www.donegaldemocrat.ie/donegalsport/The-heroes-of--3992.4856965.jp|title=The heroes of '92 — Where are they now?|work=[[Donegal Democrat]]|date=8 January 2009|accessdate=29 August 2012|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151218180946/http://www.donegaldemocrat.ie/sport/the-heroes-of-92-where-are-they-now-1-1989654|archivedate=18 December 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Chris|last=McNulty|url=http://www.donegalsporthub.com/declan-bonner-yearning-repeat-long-term-rewards-golden-age/|title=Declan Bonner yearning for repeat of the long-term rewards from the golden age|date=20 July 2018|accessdate=20 July 2018}}</ref>

He fell out with manager [[Tom Conaghan]] during the 1980s.<ref name=1990_winners/> [[Brian McEniff]] restored him to the team in time for the 1990 Ulster SFC.<ref name=1990_winners/> McGowan made a late substitute appearance for [[Declan Bonner]] against [[Armagh county football team|Armagh]] in the 1990 [[Ulster Senior Football Championship]] final, won by Donegal.<ref name=1990_winners>{{cite news|first=Chris|last=McNulty|url=http://www.donegalsporthub.com/donegals-1990-ulster-winners-will-be-honoured-tomorrow-heres-their-story/|title=Donegal's 1990 Ulster winners will be honoured tomorrow — here is their story|date=18 July 2015|accessdate=18 July 2015}}</ref>

He was a member of Donegal's [[1992 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final|1992]] All-Ireland Senior Football Championship winning team. Deployed as a defender, he started at right corner back in the 1992 All-Ireland Final as Donegal defeated [[Dublin county football team|Dublin]] by a scoreline of 0–18 to 0–14.

His last Championship game for Donegal was the 1998 [[Ulster Senior Football Championship]] final loss to [[Derry county football team|Derry]].<ref name=heroes_of_92/> He gave away his final county jersey — he thinks — to a "young fella" from Derry.<ref name=last_day>{{cite news|first=Dermot|last=Crowe|url=https://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/hurling/dermot-crowe-all-players-have-a-last-day-but-it-may-not-be-their-choice-and-is-unlikely-to-be-a-glorious-exit-38566435.html|title=The last day|work=[[Sunday Independent (Ireland)|Sunday Independent]]|date=6 October 2019|page=10 (Sport). McGowan is described as "slightly younger than Boyle". Boyle's age is given as 32 in 1998. In order to have been playing Under 21 in 1987, McGowan could not have been born in 1965.}}</ref> Himself and [[Manus Boyle (Gaelic footballer)|Manus Boyle]] (who had just also played his last game for Donegal) went "down the town" ([[Clones, County Monaghan|Clones]]) and got left behind, missing the Donegal team bus but later catching the Killybegs bus.<ref name=last_day/> Boyle and McGowan remain close friends.<ref name=last_day/>

Former Derry player [[Joe Brolly]] holds McGowan in high regard.<ref>{{cite news|first=Keith|last=Duggan|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2013/0214/1224330009987.html|title='It is funny the stir it can cause when you say what you think'|work=[[The Irish Times]]|publisher=Irish Times Trust|date=14 February 2013|accessdate=14 February 2013|quote=When he recalls the bitter rivalry between his Derry team and the neighbouring Donegal side, his thoughts turn not to the big names but to a former Donegal corner back who was as understated as he was classy. 'Barry McGowan', he says out of the blue, 'Now he was an example of a really great footballer who was totally unheralded. For me, he was as good as [[Tony Scullion]]. He was in that mould'. This conversation took place early yesterday morning: Brolly was at once talking on the phone, trying to park his car in a lock-up in Belfast and rushing for court but he was completely enthused by his memories of the Killybegs man. 'Och, he knows what I think of him — I've said it before'.}}</ref>

In May 2012, the ''[[Irish Independent]]'' named him in its selection of Donegal's "greatest team" spanning the previous 50 years.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.donegaldaily.com/2012/05/14/gaa-donegals-greatest-team-of-the-last-50-years-named/|title=GAA: Donegal's greatest team of the past 50 years named|date=14 May 2012|accessdate=14 May 2012}}</ref>

The ''[[Donegal News]]'' has described him as "probably the most reclusive or quietest member" of Donegal's 1992 team and noted it was rare to encounter him in print or on the airwaves.<ref>{{cite news|first=Frank|last=Craig|title=Breakout helped breakthrough — Jon 'Ban'|work=[[Donegal News]]|date=15 September 2022|page=67|quote=However, Barry McGowan is probably the most reclusive or quietest member of the lenedary 1992 All-Ireland winning side. You rarely, if ever, see the former defender giving his opinion in print or on the airwaves.}}</ref>

==Club== At club level McGowan played for [[CLG Na Cealla Beaga|Na Cealla Beaga]]. He co-managed the team with Manus Boyle until 2008.<ref name=heroes_of_92/> He also played [[association football]] for [[St Catherine's F.C.|St Catherine's]].<ref>{{cite news|first=Alan|last=Foley|url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/football/hugh-mcfadden-takes-scenic-route-to-donegal-set-up-338878.html|title=Hugh McFadden takes scenic route to Donegal set-up|work=[[Irish Examiner]]|date=25 June 2015|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303182501/https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/football/hugh-mcfadden-takes-scenic-route-to-donegal-set-up-338878.html|archivedate=3 March 2016}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[https://archive.today/20130124025852/http://www.gaainfo.com/players/football/donegal/B%20McGowan.php Barry McGowan] at GAAinfo.com *[https://archive.today/20130217184921/http://www.donegaldemocrat.ie/sport/local-sport/heroes_of_1992_remembered_barry_mcgowan_1_3565917 Article] in the ''[[Donegal Democrat]]''

{{Donegal Under 21 Football Team 1987}} {{Donegal Football Team 1992}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGowan, Barry}} [[Category:1960s births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Men's association football players not categorized by position]] [[Category:Donegal inter-county Gaelic footballers]] [[Category:ESB people]] [[Category:Gaelic football backs]] [[Category:Gaelic footballers who switched code]] [[Category:Gaelic football managers]] [[Category:Killybegs Gaelic footballers]] [[Category:Republic of Ireland men's association footballers]] [[Category:St Catherine's F.C. players]] [[Category:Winners of one All-Ireland medal (Gaelic football)]] [[Category:Association footballers from County Donegal]] [[Category:20th-century Irish sportsmen]] [[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]