Abram Joseph Ryan (February 5, 1838 – April 22, 1886) was an American poet, Catholic priest, Catholic newspaper editor, orator, and former Vincentian. Historians disagree on whether Ryan served as a military chaplain for the Confederate States of America. He has been called the "Poet-Priest of the South" and the "Poet Laureate of the Confederacy".
Ryan was born in Maryland to Irish Catholic immigrants. He attended a Christian Brothers school in Missouri, and then, at the age of 13, he attended a seminary run by the Vincentian Fathers. He entered the Vincentians and was sent to seminary in New York, to study theology and oversee the boys in the seminary's school.
Vocally opposed to abolitionism, he was sent back to Missouri. Having gained experience as a preacher in rural areas, Ryan was ordained in 1860. After the American Civil War broke out, he went back and forth a few times between New York and Missouri, and then to Illinois. While he never formally joined the army, he served as a freelance chaplain for the last two years of the war for both North and South soldiers, during which time his enlisted brother was killed.
Ryan had been writing poetry since his college days, and his "The Conquered Banner" was printed in June 1865. He moved from one parish in the South to another, writing poetry and sermons. He founded a journal which published mainly Southern writers, and published a volume of his own collected poetry which was popular in the US and in Ireland. He died in 1886 in Kentucky and was buried in Mobile, Alabama.