James J. Ryan (1851 – May 9, 1939) was an Irish Catholic priest in the diocese of Cashel, who served as president of St. Patrick's College, Thurles (1903–1914).
Born in Thurles, Co. Tipperary in 1851, he went to Louvain to train for the priesthood from 1873, ordained in 1876 he was awarded the degree of J.C.B.
[2] Reportedly a wealthy man, Ryan purchased Glenstal Castle for £2000, in 1927, from Sir Charles Barrington,[3] where he resided for some time, promising it to the Benedictine order if they set up a monastery there, which they eventually availed of.
With his friend from their University days in Louvain, Cardinal Désiré-Joseph Mercier, and helped by funding from Irish-born American philanthropist Marquis Martin Maloney.
[4] He purchased the property on behalf of the Irish Franciscans, in 1923 (for legal reasons it was nominally under the ownership of the Catholic University of Louvain),[5] worked to have the property repaired after damage from the Great war, and restored the memorial stones of the Irish buried there.