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His Excellency, The Most Reverend

Andrew Byrne
His Excellency, The Most Reverend; Andrew Byrne
Bishop of Little Rock
Church	Catholic Church
Diocese	Diocese of Little Rock
Installed	November 28, 1843
Term ended	June 10, 1862
Predecessor	None (first bishop)
Successor	Edward Fitzgerald
Orders
Ordination	November 11, 1827; by John England
Consecration	March 10, 1844; by John Hughes
Personal details
Born	1802; Navan, County Meath, Ireland
Died	June 10, 1862 (aged 59); Helena, Arkansas, US
Buried	Cathedral of St. Andrew, Little Rock, Arkansas, US
Nationality	Irish

Andrew J. Byrne (1802 – June 10, 1862) was an Irish-born American Catholic priest, who became the first bishop of the Diocese of Little Rock in Arkansas from 1844 until his death in 1862.

Biography

Early life

Andrew Byrne was born in 1802 in Navan, County Meath, in Ireland, the son of Robert and Margery Moore Byrne. Baptized on December 3, 1802, he was possibly born on November 30.^[1] While studying at St. Finian's College in Navan, Byrne was recruited in 1820 by Bishop John England to immigrate to the United States and serve in the new Diocese of Charleston in South Carolina.

Priesthood

Byrne was ordained by Bishop England for the Diocese of Charleston, on November 11, 1827. After a period of missionary work in South Carolina and North Carolina, he was appointed pastor of St. Mary's Parish in Charleston. Byrne was eventually named vicar-general of the diocese.^[2] At the Second Baltimore Council in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1833, he acted as Bishop England's theologian.

In 1836, Byrne was incardinated, or transferred, to the Diocese of New York, in New York City, where he served at St. Patrick's Parish, and St. James's Parish, both in Manhattan. In 1841, bishop John Hughes sent him to Ireland to recruit the Christian Brothers to teach in the diocesan schools. When local Catholics had purchased the former Universalist Church known as Carroll Hall, Byrne founded St. Andrew Parish there, which Hughes dedicated on March 19, 1842.^[2] Byrne also organized the Church of the Nativity Parish on 2nd Avenue, which Hughes dedicated on June 5, 1842.^[3]

Bishop of Little Rock

On November 28, 1843, Byrne was appointed bishop of the new Diocese of Little Rock by He was consecrated in St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City on March 10, 1844, by Bishop Hughes.^[2]

When Byrne arrived in Arkansas, his diocese had approximately 700 Catholics, with four priests and four churches. He brought two priest with him, and together they established St. Ambrose Church at Arkansas Post, Arkansas and the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Little Rock in about a year. Other parishes were established at Pine Bluff and New Gascony, Arkansas. Byrne visited Ireland twice to obtain assistants. He persuaded the Sisters of Mercy to come to his newly established diocese.^[4] Four sisters and five postulants arrived in 1851 and established a school in Little Rock that would later become Mount St. Mary Academy.^[5] They also opened convent schools at Fort Smith and Helena.^[6]

A fire of suspicious origin destroyed the church in Helena in 1854, as the Know Nothings’ influence grew.^[4] Byrne avoided political issues, including that of slavery. The record shows that he was not a slave owner, but did not express any sentiments regarding the issue.^[1] Byrne attended the Sixth Provincial Council of Baltimore in May, 1846, and the First Provincial Council of New Orleans in 1856.^[7]

By Byrne's death, the diocese had grown to include nine priests, 13 churches, 30 stations, and 12 schools and academies,^[7] and had almost completed arrangements for the starting of a college at Fort Smith by the Congregation of Christian Brothers.

Andrew Byrne died on June 10, 1862, in Helena, Arkansas at age 59.

References

^ ^a ^b Woods, James M. "Byrne, Andrew", Encyclopedia of Arkansas, November 14, 2014
^ ^a ^b ^c Meehan, Thomas. "Andrew Byrne." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 3. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. 19 August 2019 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ Lafort, Remigius. The Catholic Church in the United States of America: Undertaken to Celebrate the Golden Jubilee of His Holiness, Pope Pius X. Volume 3: The Province of Baltimore and the Province of New York, Section 1: Comprising the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Brooklyn, Buffalo and Ogdensburg. (New York City: The Catholic Editing Company, 1914), p.311. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ ^a ^b "Bishop Andrew J. Byrne", Diocese of Little Rock
^ "Our History and Founders", Mount St. Mary Academy
^ Woods, James M. Mission and Memory: A History of the Catholic Church in Arkansas. Little Rock: August House, 1993
^ ^a ^b Shea, John Gilmary. "Rt. Rev. Andrew Byrne", The Hierarchy of the Catholic Church in the United States, Office of Catholic Publications, 1886 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Andrew Byrne". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

Sources

Catholic Almanac (Baltimore, 1864);
John Gilmary Shea, The Catholic Church in N. Y. City (New York, 1878);
Richard Henry Clarke, Lives of the Deceased Bishops (New York, 1872);
James Roosevelt Bayley, Brief Sketch of the Early History of the Catholic Church on the Island of New York (New York, 1870)