He came to prominence when he won the Rising Star Award at the 10th Irish Film & Television Awards for his debut, Pilgrim Hill. His follow-up Glassland starred Jack Reynor as a young man who tries to help his mother (Toni Colette). In 2015, Barrett filmed Brain on Fire based on the book of same name, starring Chloë Grace Moretz and Charlize Theron in New York and Canada. His television mini-series Smalltown was screened in Ireland in September 2016. Barrett attended St Michael's College, Listowel. He was married on 2 January 2016. (en)