James Anthony Sharkey (born 1945, Derry, Northern Ireland) is an Irish historian and former diplomat.
[2] Sharkey holds degrees in Russian and Russian history from University College Dublin and Birmingham University.
[2] He is the author of works about folk history in Inishowen, Scots Gaelic, the Russian peasantry and Lafcadio Hearn.
He served as Irish ambassador to a number of countries.
The following list may be incomplete As Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe, Strasbourg, he chaired the Human Rights Committee and defended the leading role of the European Court of Human Rights.