Raymond ‘Barney’ Van Barneveld is pretty cool, but here are five other Barneys you should know about

In the build-up to the first ever McCoy's Premier League Darts night in Dublin on March 22, we've put together a series inspired by darts nicknames. Today: Raymond van Barneveld. Or Barney to you and me.

1. Barney Rubble

Husband of Betty, father to Bamm-Bamm and best friend to Fred Flintstone, Barney was the prehistoric version of your perfect neighbour. As caveman dino-crane operators go, he was the best.

It's not all great, though. His subsequent film depictions by both Rick Moranis and Stephen Baldwin are best buried under a pile of, well, rubble.

2. Barney Gumble

Our second cartoon Barney and an even greater creation that the one above. Barney Gumble started out life in The Simpsons as the sad barfly. Since then we have seen him show hidden depths as a film director, operate a successful snow plough business, fly a helicopter and croon out some fine tunes.

The possessor of the loudest and funniest belch in the animated world, Barney is a man of few words, but almost all are comedy gold. Our favourite, his admission of some of his misdeeds to Moe when he became sober.

“I broke barstools, befouled your broom closet, and made sweet love to your pool table, which I then befouled.”

This clip is how he would like to be remembered.

3. Barney the Dinosaur

It’s now 20 years since the purple headwrecker appeared on our screens and while no new episodes have been made since 2009, there’s an T-Rex load of stuff on tape for you to endure if you have kids.

The catchy but insanely awful I Love You song - so bad a looped version was used to torment prisoners in Guantanamo - is below. You don’t have to click on it but if you don’t, Barney might cry.

4. Barney Rock

The only actual human Barney on this list and he has the coolest name of the lot. There must be thousands of young lads around Dublin named (or at least nicknamed) after the Hill 16 legend.

The Ballymun native missed the great Dublin sides of the 1970s as he was too young but he was a fixture all through the 1980s, winning the All-Ireland in 1983, the infamous ’12 Apostles’ final. His easiest day out? This goal, when Cork failed to reappear for extra-time in a League semi-final in 1987 because they had tickets bought for the train home and didn’t want to miss it. Seriously.

5. Barney, North Dakota

Only 52 souls live in Barney, North Dakota and it isn’t a particularly interesting place except for one thing. In The Simpsons, Moe says he moved to Springfield because its zip code is 58008, or ‘BOOBS’ upside down in a calculator. The place in the United States with the 58008 zip code? Barney, North Dakota.

Raymond van Barneveld is one of eight stars on show at McCoy's Premier League Darts, which visits Dublin for the first time ever when it takes place at the O2 Arena on Thursday 22 March. Here are our pieces on Wizards and Artists. And you really shouldn't miss the one on Hammers. For McCoy's Premier League Darts at the O2 ticket details, click here.