Ryan attended University College Dublin and the King's Inns.
[2][3] She was appointed a vice-chairperson of the Employment Appeals Tribunal in 1998 and was re-appointed in 2001.
[4] Ryan was nominated to the Circuit Court in June 2002 and appointed in July 2002.
[5][6] She has presided over criminal law trials involving dangerous driving, manslaughter, fraud, sexual offences, theft, harassment, health and safety law, and drugs offences.
[16][17] Ryan married Brian Lenihan Jnr in 1987 with whom she had two children.