He was a member of Donegal's 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 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.[2] He gave away his final county jersey — he thinks — to a "young fella" from Derry.[1] Himself and Manus Boyle (who had just also played his last game for Donegal) went "down the town" (Clones) and got left behind, missing the Donegal team bus but later catching the Killybegs bus.[1] Boyle and McGowan remain close friends.[1]
Former Derry player Joe Brolly holds McGowan in high regard.[5]
In May 2012, the Irish Independent named him in its selection of Donegal's "greatest team" spanning the previous 50 years.[6]
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.[7]
^ abcdCrowe, Dermot (6 October 2019). "The last day". Sunday Independent. p. 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.
^Duggan, Keith (14 February 2013). "'It is funny the stir it can cause when you say what you think'". The Irish Times. Irish Times Trust. Retrieved 14 February 2013. 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'.
^Craig, Frank (15 September 2022). "Breakout helped breakthrough — Jon 'Ban'". Donegal News. p. 67. 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.
