This book presents over two dozen fascinating portraits of life in medieval Ireland, focusing on unusual and diverting individuals, topics, and events from the 13th and 14th centuries. Against the backdrop of the violent and chaotic history of Ireland during this period, fascinating stories of controversial events and scandals - such as heresy trials, spying, corruption, and murder - make the book interesting and accessible, even to readers unfamiliar with medieval history. It offers a fascinating flavor of life in medieval Ireland, covering everything from female spies in the 14th century, through the journey of an Irish monk to China in the 1330s, the peasant strikes of 1299 and 1349, to a riot over a dead dog, and the thieves who inhabited this chaotic world.