Andrew J. Byrne was born in Dublin in 1830. In 1898 he decided
to commence writing his memoirs, which he finished in 1909, two
years before his death. Superficially there seems to be nothing
unusual about Byrne’s life; he was born in Dublin and died in
Dublin, and spent much of his life employed in the building
trade. However, Andrew J. Byrne was a remarkable man who led a
remarkable life. He travelled back and forth between Ireland and
the United States no less than four times between 1849 and 1875,
along the way amassing some nine years service in the U.S. army.
He saw service in the 1850s at frontier locations in Texas, New
Mexico and Arizona, spent time in the Dublin Artillery Militia,
and returned to the United States in 1861 to fight for the Union
in the Civil War. He served with the 65th New York Volunteer
Infantry throughout the conflict, was twice wounded, and
eventually reached the rank of First Lieutenant. Andrew Byrne’s
memoirs were published thanks to the efforts of his grandson,
retired Irish ar