William J Byrne : Short Biography

Seeking relatives, descendants or information regarding this Byrne family from 19th century Tipperary (Pallas, Borrisoleigh, Mardyke). Specifically I wonder how and why they were in Tipperary, Byrnes most often being from elsewhere, and which group of Byrnes they came from.

William emigrated in 1880 to Australia. His father was Laurence (or Lawrence) Byrne, born 1821 Pallas Tipperary, married Ellen Butler (no children) then Margaret Butler b1826 in 1856 in Pallas, (10 children of which William was the second: John, William, Hanna, Johanna, Terrence, Michael, Mary, Bridget, Julia, Morgan who was also known as Brother Lawrence John of the De La Salle order, superior of Navan school in the 1920s). Hannah, John and William all emigrated to Australia.

William's grandfather and the oldest known ancestor was Terence Byrne of Pallas, Tipperary, who married Hannah Gleeson and had three children: Morgan (b 1815, married Peggy Kennedy); Laurence above; and Mary b 1838 married John Ryan. We have no dates for Terence and no information besides this and Pallas as location. We believe he was a farmer but have no basis for this. (updated April 2020: I've found the farm, and his gravestone, which was inaccurately transcribed in both available sources -Foulkes 2004 mislabelled it as a Ryan stone, due to the difficult angle at which it was leaning and the moss and lichen on it, otherwise in good condition-, and Connors, who misread some dates due to the same reasons).

William became involved in construction of early mines and railways in Queensland and his funeral was attended by the Minister of Lands and a representative of the Premier's Office. He became 17th mayor of Mackay (QLD) in 1891 but resigned in that term to be with his family. He had five children: Laurence 1887, Margaret 1889, Elizabeth 1891, Johanna 1894, and my grandfather John Charles 1897, the latter drowning at 34 years old saving his young son who was drowning in a flooded river after a storm at night early in 1932 in Rockhampton.

(Update April 2020 - I have made significant progress in further researches and will post it here once it has been verified).