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According to the information recorded on the Doegen speaker questionnaire in September 1931, Barney McAuley was born in Ballyemon in June 1850, though his parents were both from Glenariffe. His father was a farmer. His own occupation was also given as a farmer. In response to questions, he stated that his first six years were spent between Ballyemon and Glenariffe, and he went to primary school in Glenariffe. He lived in Glenariffe for the rest of his life, but spent eleven years as a sailor in the merchant marine. He gave Irish and English as his mother languages. He could read and write English but not Irish. The organising secretary notes "not in the habit of speaking Irish" and "strong voice and fairly clear, but rather uneven" and also "text not transcribed through error."

The speaker was known as "Barney Bhriain" and as "The Bhréin". His grandmother, Muiread Ní Chearraí, who lived to be 94, was a source of stories for him, as was his uncle Aeneas Mc Auley. (Aeneas may have had siblings Séamus — aged 84 and single in 1911 — and Mollie.)

On 30/11/1889 at Cushendall, Barney (aged 36) married Elizabeth Black of Legdrina (aged 23). His father was Daniel McAuley (farmer, deceased), and her father was Patrick Black (farmer, living). The witnesses were another Bernard McAuley of Clonreagh, and Rose Black of Legdrina. A 1933 copy of the church record from St Kilian's Glenariffe gives the date of the marriage as 30/11/1886. There were to be three sons, with registered dates of birth: Patrick, 1890/09/26; James, 1895/12/17; and Daniel, 1901/05/14.

The 1901 census return lists Barney (53) and Elizabeth (33), together with three sons, who are named — in contradiction to the other evidence — as James (14), Patrick (10), and John (5). No members of the family were claimed to speak Gaelic. In the 1911 census form, completed in Gaelic, the household contained Barney (60), Elizabeth (40), and sons Patrick (20), James (15) and Daniel (10). It also contained Barney's uncle, Séamus, aged 84 and single, and claimed that Barney, his uncle Séamus, and Barney's three sons (but not Barney's wife) were all bilingual.

Among those who visited Barney McAuley to hear him speak Gaelic were:
• Eoin Mac Néill
• Séamus Ó Duilearga 1920–26; Éamonn Ó Tuathail 1929; all edited by Seosamh Watson;
      see also Séamus Ó Duilearga, "From the Glens of Antrim", Béaloideas 1:4, 1928, lch 410;
      T K Whitaker, "James Hamilton Delargy", The Glynns 10, 1982, lgh 23–30 at lch 26.
• Seán Mac Maoláin (An tUltach 3:5, Meitheamh 1926, lch 1)
• Anna Nic Alasdair (see Holmer, lch 11)
• Cosslett Ó Cuinn 1931 (Risteárd Ó Glaisne, Cosslett Ó Cuinn, lch 38)
• Nils Holmer 1937, who classed him as a native speaker though possibly of a variety of language affected by being no longer in widespread use
Sam Henry obtained folklore from him in English (published in the Northern Constitution c1939).

Barney was rumoured to be sometimes reluctant to speak Gaelic to strangers, saying that they would use what they got from him to further their careers while he got no benefit from it.

Barney McAuley died at Clonreagh on the 08/03/1941, aged 92, and was buried at the Bay, Glenariffe. He was survived by his wife and his three sons, as reported in the Ballymena Weekly Telegraph of 15/03/1941. Patrick was then living at Altmore, Cushendall, while the other two sons were apparently at home in Clonreagh. A neighbouring farmer, Patrick O'Neill, was designated as his heir in his will.

Recent references to Barney McAuley include:
      Colm J O'Boyle, Phonetic texts of East Ulster Irish, MA thesis QUB, 1962, pp 5–8, 53–5, 60–9.
      Heinrich Wagner and Colm Ó Baoill, Linguistic Atlas and Survey of Irish Dialects, Vol IV, 1969, pp 283–4.
      Seosamh Watson, "Séamus Ó Duilearga's Antrim Notebooks", Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie 40, 1984, pp 74–117 (for genealogy, esp top of p 114); and ibid 42 (1987) 138–218;
         id, "Séamus Ó Duilearga's Co. Antrim Notebooks," Éigse 20, 1984, pp 187–211;
         id, "Seanchas Ghlinntí Aontrama", An tUltach 66:1, 1/1989, pp 9–11; and "Béaloideas", ibid 66:10, 10/1989, pp 9–10.
      "McAuley Memories," Fios (Glenariffe Development Group) 14, Spring 1995, pp 16–18; ibid 17, Spring 1996, p 17.
      Robert Sharpe and Charles McAllister, A Glimpse at Glenariffe, 1997, pp 38, 72, 114, 115, 179.
      Brian Mac Lochlainn and Sorcha Nic Lochlainn, "The Gaelic language in North Antrim and Rathlin Island", A wheen o' things that used to be, no date, pp 127–57 at 132–3.
      Róise Ní Bhaoill, Ulster Gaelic Voices, 2010, at pp 280–1, 286–97.

Marriage certificate of Barney McAuley and Elizabeth Black, 1886.	Barney McAuley, October 1925. This picture is copyright the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin.

Barney's son, Séamus Mór, was also known as a Gaelic speaker. There is a brief account of him by Liam Mac Reachtain in "Flúirse Gaeilge in Ultaibh Thoir", An tUltach 25:8 (Lughnasa 1948) lch 8.  A tape of him, made around 1975 by Alex McMullan of Glenariffe, is thought to exist, possibly in CBÉ. He was the subject of several articles by the journalist Eibhlín Ní Bhriain (Travels in Antrim 2, Irish Times 14/04/1978, p. 14; Tuarascáil, Irish Times 19/04/1978, p. 8; An Irishwoman's Diary, Irish Times 28/09/1981, p. 9), who referred to him as "Jim Bhriain Mac Caimlin". (This form of the name is corroborated by the observation of Brian Turner: “I used to chat to Jim and Danny in the 1970s and Jim very definitely told me that his father (Barney Bhriain) had told him that his (Big Jim’s) name was Seamus Mc Camlin ‘ma kamlin’.”) Eibhlín Ní Bhriain found Jim "very hard to understand" and noted that he said he "got on" perfectly with Scottish speakers of Gaelic. She also mentions his brother Daniel, with whom he spoke Gaelic but who had died on 01/07/1976. His other brother Patrick had died in 1957. Séamus himself died on 25/02/1983. (See Jack McCann, "Lament for Séamus 'Bhriain' Mac Amhlaigh", The Glynns 12 (1984) lch 4).  Some of his reminiscenses (in English) are included in Fios 14 (Spring 1995) pp 16–8 and Fios 17 (Spring 1996) p 17.  Further information on Séamus (and on his father) is given in Brian Mac Lochlainn and Sorcha Nic Lochlainn, "The Gaelic Language in North Antrim and Rathlin Island", A wheen o' things that used to be, Glens of Antrim Historical Society (no date, 2008) pp 131–3.  Photographs of Séamus are to be found at:
• Eibhlín Ní Bhriain, Tuarascáil (Irish Times 19/04/1978 8)
• Eibhlín Ní Bhriain (alias Candida), An Irishwoman's Diary (Irish Times 28/9/1981 9)
• A wheen o' things that used to be, p 131
• Fios 14 (Spring 1995), front cover

We have seen that there was another Bernard McAuley in Clonreagh, who served as best man at the wedding of our speaker in 1889. In the hope of avoiding confusion between the two, we include here some details which do not concern our speaker but may concern his namesake. Household 3 in Clonreagh in the 1901 census consisted of a widow Mary McAuley (72), and her unmarried son and daughter, Bernard (42) and Ellen (26). A Bernard McAuley died on 02/11/1935 and left his effects to Mrs Ellen McGonnell.  Electoral registers of the period 1922–1935 contain both a Bernard McAuley senior and Bernard McAuley junior in Clonreagh; the former is our speaker.