James Ryan was born on June 17, 1848, in Thurles, County Tipperary in Ireland. When he was age seven, the family immigrated to the United States, settling in Louisville, Kentucky.[1] He studied at St. Thomas' and St. Joseph's Colleges in Bardstown, Kentucky, and at Preston Park Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.[1]
Ryan was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop William George McCloskey for the Diocese of Louisville on December 24, 1871.[2] After his ordination, Ryan spent several years afterwards spent a few years as a missionary and teacher
In 1877, when Reverend John Lancaster Spalding was appointed bishop of the new Diocese of Peoria in Illinois, Ryan incardinated, or transferred to that diocese.[1] After serving pastoral assignments in Illinois at Wataga and Danville, Ryan was named rector of St. Columba's Parish at Ottawa, Illinois, in 1881.[1]
On February 28, 1888, Ryan was appointed as the third bishop of the Diocese of Alton by Pope Leo XIII. He received his episcopal consecration at the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Alton, Illinois, on May 1, 1888, from Bishop Spalding, with Bishops McCloskey and John Janssen serving as co-consecrators.[2]
During his 35-year-long tenure, Ryan established 40 new churches and six hospitals and increased the number of Catholics from 70,000 to over 87,000.[3] He held the first diocesan synod in February 1889.[1] He began raising funds for a new orphanage in 1919, but died before it was completed.[3]
James Ryan died in Alton on June 2, 1923, at age 75.[4]
