Manliffe Barrington


Manliffe Barrington Monkstown, County Dublin, was an Irish motorcycle racer famous for winning Isle of Man TT races twice in his career.

Racing career

The son of an official importer for CAV for tractors in Ireland, Barrington first competed in the 1935 Isle of Man TT on an Excelsior, finishing the Senior TT in 11th place at an average race speed of 72.06 mph. Manliffe also occasionally raced cars including finishing 4th at Phoenix Park in 1937 driving a Rapier.

Motorcycle Grand Prix Career

Entered by the then-recently retired from racing Stanley Woods to ride Moto Guzzi in the 1947 Isle of Man TT races, the 250 cc Lightweight TT race was won by Manliffe Barrington in what proved highly controversial circumstances from teammate Maurice Cann.

1947 Lightweight TT Race Results

Despite Maurice Cann lapping consistently for the whole race at an average race speed of over 74 mph and Barrington at just over 73 mph, the 1947 250cc Lightweight TT Race was awarded to Barrington. Despite a protest to the ACU, the result was allowed to stand as "....in those days of wind-up watches and hand-written records, the officials had under-estimated Barrington's time by a minute."
The first event of the new 1949 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 1949 Isle of Man TT Race. A further race win for Barrington in the new Grand Prix Championship was the 1949 250 cc Lightweight TT race at an average race speed of 77.99 mph again riding a Moto-Guzzi.
During practice for the 1952 Senior TT race, Barrington was riding a 500 cc Norton when engine seizure at the left-hand bend before the Barregarrow cross-roads resulted in a crash, and a broken thigh caused his retirement from motorcycle racing.

TT Race Wins

TT career summary

World Championship results