[1][2] His family moved to Albany when he was an infant, and his father operated a bar and grill on Broadway while Byrne attended the city's public schools.

[1] After attending the 1896 Democratic National Convention and hearing William Jennings Bryan speak, Byrne developed a lifelong interest in oratory.

[1] In November 1951, one of his U.S. House colleagues noted that Byrne marched the entire length of a four mile Veterans Day parade in Albany, after which he delivered two speeches in commemoration of the holiday.

[1] In the State Senate, Byrne was credited with authoring New York's unemployment compensation insurance law, as well as backing measures in favor of workplace and farm safety.

[1] While chairman of the agriculture committee, he shepherded to passage New York's first law to regulate the quality and composition of raw milk produced by the state's dairy farmers.

Byrne rarely spoke on the floor of the House, but was active as a staunch supporter of the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration's New Deal and World War II initiatives.

In the years following World War II, Byrne led a House delegation on an extended trip to Europe as it studied he problem of displace persons and considered possible solutions.