James J. Ryan (1851–1939) was an Irish Catholic priest in the diocese of Cashel, who served as president of

St. Patrick's College, Thurles Mary Immaculate College, (MIC) Thurles is a third level college of education in Thurles, County Tipperary. Formerly a seminary, the college specialises in humanities courses in accounting, business studies, Irish and religious studies. History M ...

(1903–1914). Ryan also funded the establishment of

Glenstal Abbey Glenstal Abbey is a Roman Catholic Benedictine monastery of the Congregation of the Annunciation located in Murroe, County Limerick, Ireland. It is dedicated to Saint Joseph and Saint Columba. The current abbot of the monastery is Brendan Cof ...

, inviting the Pallotine order to establish a presence in Thurles,Civic Reception to mark the centenary of the Pallotines in Ireland
www.pallotines.ie, December 15, 2009. and funded the re-establishment of the Irish College in Louvain. Born in

Thurles Thurles (; ''Durlas Éile'') is a town in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is located in the civil parish of the same name in the barony of Eliogarty and in the ecclesiastical parish of Thurles (Roman Catholic parish), Thurles. The cathedral ch ...

, Co. Tipperary in 1851, he went to

Louvain Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic c ...

to train for the priesthood from 1873, ordained in 1876 he was awarded the degree of J.C.B. (Lovan.) before continuing his studies in Rome. Returning to Ireland in 1879, Ryan took up a position as a professor of church history, in St. Patrick's College, Thurles, the Cashel Diocesan Seminary, before becoming vice-president and in 1903 president of the college, a position he held until 1914. In 1909 with the support of Archbishop of Cashel, Rev. Dr. Fennelly, he invited the

pallottine The Pallottines officially named the Society of the Catholic Apostolate ( la, Societas Apostolatus Catholici), abbreviated SAC is a Society of Apostolic Life of Pontifical Right for men in the Roman Catholic Church, founded in 1835 by the Roman C ...

order to set up in Thurles with their students studying in St. Patrick's College when he died in 1939 he left his residence to the order.

Glenstal Abbey

Reportedly a wealthy man, Ryan purchased Glenstal Castle for £2000, in 1927, from Sir Charles Barrington, where he resided for some time, promising it to the Benedictine order if they set up a monastery there, which they eventually availed of. Initially, there was some discussions between the order and Ryan who wanted to maintain room and hunting a fishing rights on the property, as well as the order considering other locations such as Kylemore.

Re-establishment of the Irish College, Louvain

Ryan was involved in the re-establishment of the Franciscan Irish College, in Louvain,

St Anthony's College, Leuven The Irish College of St Anthony, in Leuven, Belgium, known in ga, Coláiste na nGael, french: Collège des Irlandais à Louvain and nl, Iers College Leuven, has been a centre of Irish learning on the European Continent since the early 17th cen ...

, which had no longer been in the Irish, or orders possession, since the French Revolution. With his friend from their University days in Louvain, Cardinal

Désiré-Joseph Mercier Désiré Félicien François Joseph Mercier (21 November 1851 – 23 January 1926) was a Belgian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and a noted scholar. A Thomist scholar, he had several of his works translated into other European languages. H ...

, and helped by funding from Irish-born American philanthropist Marquis Martin Maloney. 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), worked to have the property repaired after damage from the Great war, and restored the memorial stones of the Irish buried there. Ryan died at his residence The Hermitage, Cabra, Thurles, on May 9th, 1939.''Eminent Irish Priest, Msgr. Ryan, Dead'', The Pittsburg Catholic, Thursday, June 8th, 1939.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, James J. 1851 births 1939 deaths People from County Tipperary Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968) alumni 19th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests 20th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests