Redmond D. Barry was a native of County Kildare, Ireland: was a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, with the degrees of A.M. and M.D. He was a classmate of General Packingham, commander-in-chief of the British forces at the battle of New Orleans and was killed. Dr. Barry practiced medicine in Liverpool for some time and was distinguished for his skill in surgery. While there he attracted the attention of Fox, who secured for him an appointment as surgeon in the British navy, but his party feeling so intense that he soon resigned and came to America. He first settled in North Carolina, then went to Kentucky and read law under John C. Breckinridge. He came to Sumner County, where he married Miss. Jane Alexander, who was known as the "Cumberland Beauty." She was a member of the family of Alexanders, six of whom where signers of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. After coming to America Dr. Barry studied law and was for many years regarded as one of the greatest lawyers in Tennessee. He accumulated a large fortune and left many descendants, some of them now living in Sumner County.

To Dr. Barry is given the honor of introducing blue grass into Sumner County in 1800, but not much of it was grown until in 1836, when General Joseph Miller introduced it into general cultivation. Dr. Barry may be said to have been the pioneer in raising blooded stock in Sumner County, or in Tennessee. In 1804 he brought from Virginia the first thoroughbred stallion that appeared in the Valley of the Cumberland- Gray Medley. For more that a century the Barry family has been one of the most prominent in the county.