January 29

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1768  Oliver Goldsmith was an Anglo-Irish writer and poet. The Good-Natured Man was first performed on this day in 1768 at London’s Covent Garden. He also wrote She Stoops to Conquer, The Vicar of Wakefield and the poem The Deserted Village.
He faced many hurdles and fell several times… but he overcame all obstacles on his way to becoming a literary giant.
More about Goldsmith and his quotes

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1817  John Palliser was born on this day in 1817 in Dublin. He was an explorer and led expeditions across Canada and Russia for the British government. When he returned from Canada he told them that the land that is now known as Alberta was unsuitable for farming.
The British government ignored Palliser’s words, and attempted to farm the land, but failed due to the Dust Bowl storms of the 1930s.

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1955  Happy birthday to Liam Reilly, born in Dundalk on this day in 1955. Reilly is a musician who was a member of the Irish rock band Bagatelle. Reilly also represented Ireland at the 1990 Eurovision Song Contest in Zagreb. He finished joint second with his song Somewhere in Europe.

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 1967  The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) was formed on this day in 1967. It was initially accused of being a front for the IRA due to several republicans being heavily involved. Both the Northern Irish government and loyalist groups were very suspicious of NICRA.

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1982  Happy birthday to Wexford singer Wallis Bird, who was born on this day in 1982. She received the Meteor Music Award for Best Irish Female in 2010 and has been described in the past as ‘a young Janis Joplin’.
Read more and watch videos of Wallis Bird

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2002  On this day in 2002, U2 claimed the musical heritage of their Hanover Quay recording studios should prevent them from being demolished.
The band have been at the top of the music industry for three decades and have always used their profile to help worthy causes.
Click here to read about Adam Clayton and the ‘Funky Shoe’ mental health campaign
Read more about U2 here.

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