William Byrne (Catholic)

William Byrne (1780 – 5 June 1833) was a Roman Catholic missionary and educator, born in County Wicklow, Ireland; died at Bardstown, Kentucky.

He was one of a large family for whom he was obliged by the death of his father to become breadwinner. He desired to be a priest, but circumstances denied him a common elementary education, imparted to him by a pious uncle. Many of his relatives were among the patriots of the rebellion of 1798. In his twenty-fifth year came his opportunity to emigrate to the United States, where, shortly after his arrival he went to Georgetown College and applied for admission into the Society of Jesus. His advanced age and lack of classical education, however, convinced him, after some months' stay there, that he could not reasonably hope to obtain in the Society, for many years at least, his ambition for ordination to the priesthood. He therefore left Georgetown, and by advice of Archbishop Carroll went to Mount St. Mary's College, Emmitsburg. Here the Rev. John Dubois, the president, received him with sympathy, pointed out a course of study, and finding him a good disciplinarian, made him prefect of the institution. He was nearly thirty years of age when he began to study Latin, but his zeal and perseverance brought significant results in knowledge.

In order to advance more rapidly in his studies, he entered St. Mary's Seminary, Baltimore, but the surroundings were not congenial, and he remained there only a short time. He had been ordained a subdeacon, and Bishop Flaget accepted his offer of service for the Diocese of Bardstown, Kentucky. He made further studies at St. Thomas' Seminary there, and was then ordained priest by Bishop David, 18 September 1819, with his friend George A. M. Elder, whom he had met at Emmitsburg. They were the first priests ordained at Bardstown, and by Bishop David, who was consecrated 15 August 1819. Shortly after his ordination, Father Byrne was appointed to the care of St. Mary's and St. Charles' missions, visiting also the small congregation of Louisville, sixty miles distant, and laboring at all times with most indefatigable industry. The ignorance of the people and the necessity of establishing some institution for elementary instruction appealed to him strongly, and in the spring of 1821 he opened St. Mary's College, near Bardstown, in an old stone building that stood on a farm he had purchased with money begged from those who sympathized with his project. He had about fifty boys to begin with, one of them being Martin John Spalding, later the famous Archbishop of Baltimore, who even then was so precious in the display of his abilities that at the age of fifteen he was appointed to teach mathematics to his fellow students. Father Byrne at first filled every office in the school and attended to his missionary duties as well. His college had become very popular in Kentucky when it was destroyed by fire. This set-back seemed only to give him new energy, and he soon had the college rebuilt. A second fire ruined a large part of the new structure, but nothing daunted, he went on and again placed the institution on a firm foundation.

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