Early life 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. He studied at St. Thomas' and
St. Joseph's Colleges in
Bardstown, Kentucky, and at Preston Park Seminary in
Louisville, Kentucky. 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. He held the first diocesan
synod in February 1889. ==See also==