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.

[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.

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.

[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.