DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, you want to talk about a man who crossed an ocean, survived a revolution, and still found time to build something beautiful on the edge of Aransas Bay — well, pull up a chair, because this story earns it. James W.
Byrne came over from Ireland, born in 1787, and by the time Texas was fighting for its life, he was in the thick of it — a veteran of the Texas Revolution, no less. He settled early in this part of the coast, the kind of man who didn't just pass through a place but put down roots so deep they're still showing. He established the town of Lamar, right here on this stretch of Texas coastline.
And then, along with his wife Harriet, he did something that tells you a lot about who these people were — he sold land on Aransas Bay to the Catholic church, specifically for a chapel site. Now, Byrne didn't settle for just any builder. He engaged a French architect to design the structure.
A French architect, out here on the Texas Gulf Coast. The man had standards. The chapel was completed in 1858, and they called it Stella Maris — Star of the Sea — a name that fits a chapel sitting right there on the water like it belongs to it.
And here's the part that really makes you stop: the walls weren't built from wood or brick, but from shellcrete — a shell-aggregate masonry, built from the very stuff the bay provides. That chapel stood as an important link with the area's early Roman Catholic heritage, enduring long after Byrne himself passed in 1865. And when the time came, rather than let it be lost, it was moved — carefully, deliberately — to this site in 1986.
The Star of the Sea, still right where you can find her.
What the marker says
Irish immigrant James W. Byrne (1787-1865), a veteran of the Texas Revolution, was an early settler of this area. He established the town of Lamar and, with his wife Harriet, sold land on Aransas Bay to the Catholic church for a chapel site. Byrne engaged a French architect to design the structure, which was completed in 1858. Called Stella Maris (Star of the Sea) Chapel, it was built of shellcrete, a shell-aggregate masonry. An important link with the area's early Roman Catholic heritage, the chapel was moved to this site in 1986. (1986)