Francis Barry Byrne was an American architect and initially a member of the group of architects known as the Prairie School. Thus, he emerged from this influenced by F. L. Wright. After the demise of the Prairie School (~ 1916), Byrne continued as an architect developing his own personal style, where he developed a number of highly individual styles (especially in his Roman Catholic ecclesiastical building designs).

In 1902, Byrne’s life changed forever when at the Chicago Art Institute, he saw an exhibition of the work of F. L. Wright. He was so impressed that Byrne presented himself at Wright’s Oak Park studio and got a job as an apprentice tracer. Among the many projects that he worked on were Unity Temple & Coonley House. Byrne worked on the former drawings, and this is where his thoughts on Roman Catholic church design began.

Byrne continued working in Wright’s studio until 1908, and worked with former Wright associates W. B. Griffin & Marion Mahony (1907–10). In 1910, he went into practice with the former Wright apprentice Andrew Willatzen in the Pacific NW (until 1913). They designed more than 20 buildings in this time until differences in opinion led to a mutual agreement to dissolve the partnership. He partnered with Griffin & Mahony again (1914–17), when the couple won the Australian capital design competition and moved down under.

In the 1920’s, he began to earn ecclesiastical commissions for the Catholic Church. His most famous cathedral design was in 1931 Cork (Ireland) Christ the King Church. He continued in his practice until the 1960’s. He died Dec. 17, 1967, in Evanston, IL.

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Sources:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Barry-Byrne

https://turnerscross.com/architecture/barry-byrne/