FitzRalph was born into a well-off
burgess family of
Anglo-Norman/
Hiberno-Norman descent in
Dundalk, Ireland. He is noted as an ex-fellow and teacher of
Balliol College, at the
University of Oxford in 1325 (which is the earliest known record of him). By 1331, he was a
Regent master in Theology, and soon after was made
Vice-Chancellor of the university; this was an almost unparalleled achievement for someone still in his early thirties, let alone an Irishman (although
John Prince, in his "
Worthies of Devon" makes the case for him being a Devonian and member of the Shillingford family. ==Writings==