As did John Sheppey's, so FitzRalph's life straddled the threshold to the century covered in this study, and thus a good deal of his preaching occurred before 1350. But his work, too, should be included here for a number of reasons that echo and yet differ from those given for the inclusion of Sheppey. First and foremost, he has left a unique sermon diary, in which he noted precisely where, when, in what language, and often before what audience he preached. Second, his work gives us a splendid insight into the preaching activities of a fourteenth-century bishop. And lastly, FitzRalph exerted a strong and often acknowledged influence on later fourteenth- and fifteenth-century preachers, both orthodox and Lollard.

Born around the beginning of the century in Dundalk, Ireland, FitzRalph studied at Oxford and advanced to a doctorate in theology (1331) and the chancellorship of the university (1332–1334). Throughout his life he spent four extended periods at Avignon (1334–5, 1337–44, 1349–51, and 1357–60) and probably died there in 1360. In 1335 he was appointed dean of Lichfield cathedral, and in 1347 archbishop of Armagh and primate of Ireland.

His sermons have been preserved in three complete and several partial manuscripts, and some of them appear elsewhere as single items in different sermon collections. They amount to some 90 items in the complete manuscripts, to which should be added an academic introitus, a sermon in praise of scripture and Peter Lombard.