Just woke up and saw this thread.
I met old Barry often around the late sixties. He used to come over to Ireland with Banjo (5-string) and concertina , no guitar ever but he used to borrow one (usually mine) and could pick it very smoothly too. He was the first I ever heard sing "The Manchester Rambler", and also a version of "The Black Velvet Band".. The last time he came he had given "away" the large bluegrass style banjo and carried only his concertina, he wouldn't sing anymore, for us, either. "I'm all for the music now man!" he told me. That was about 1970 I believe and it was the last I saw of him here in south-east Ireland. The first time I remember now was in a small village Festival , competing in a "Folk Singing Contest" on a public stage. The late Bobby Clancy was the adjudicator and Barry was the winner (by a mile) "Jesus man, I need that prizemoney!" he told me. After that he played around the pubs locally for months. One night, after a heavier than usual quantity of "ale" had been supped, Barry made his way to the little used barn outside the village where he had set up his "digs". The entrance he had effected was through a road level window or small opening, as the main door, at field level, was boarded up.
He dropped his banjo in (The shed had been full of hay, until that morning but the owner had cleared it out during the day while Barry was elsewhere, he was fed by many of the citizens during his stay) but jumping down after it he fell down some six feet or more and landed on the instrument, snapping the neck. He was doubly lucky as the village boasted a very good cabinet maker at that time, who effected a seamless repair both to banjo neck and it's tone and he had not broken anything of a more personal nature. It seems the local brew healed all the stiffness and strains in Barry's limbs in very short order and he was able to renew his nightly sessions much to the delight of us all..
He was a grand lad, God rest him.

Funny that other folksinger Lord whatsisname.... never came along our way at all!.

Beachcomber.