Michael Staunton

Dr. Michael Staunton is a lecturer in History at University College Dublin. Born in Dublin and educated at University College Cork and Cambridge University, where he gained a Ph.D. in medieval history, Michael worked as a teacher and researcher at Cambridge and at St. Andrews.

He is the author of The Lives of Thomas Beckett. This collection tells the story of Thomas Beckett’s turbulent life, violent death and extraordinary posthumous acclaim in the words of his contemporaries. These extracts, many first time translations, make it possible to read in English how one of the most controversial figures of the Middle Ages was seen by those who knew him best and those most powerfully affected by him.

Michael has also written The Illustrated Story of Christian Ireland: From St. Patrick to the Peace Process for Merlin Publishing. The 2,000-year-old story of Christian Ireland is told. This intriguing book reveals how religious beliefs and traditions have moulded Ireland’s past and present in spectacular ways.