The second oldest of 14 children, Michael Ready was born in New Haven, Connecticut, to Michael T. and Mary A. Ready. His parents were Irish immigrants who moved to the United States in the 1880s. In 1900, he and his family moved to Mansfield, Ohio, and later to Barberton. He studied at St. Vincent Seminary in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, at St. Bernard Seminary in Rochester, New York, and at St. Mary Seminary in Cleveland.