James Ryan (June 17, 1848 – July 2, 1923) was an Irish-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church.

[1] He studied at St. Thomas' and St. Joseph's Colleges in Bardstown, Kentucky, and at Preston Park Seminary in Louisville.

[1] Ryan was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop William George McCloskey for what was then 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 John Lancaster Spalding was appointed to the new Diocese of Peoria in Illinois, Ryan incardinated, or transferred to that diocese.

[1] On February 28, 1888, Ryan was appointed as the third bishop of the Diocese of Alton by Pope Leo XIII.