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1817 Richard Brinsley Sheridan died on this day in 1817. He was a poet, theatre manager, playwright and politician.
He was once one of the most in-demand men amongst the upper-classes in London. He was born in Dublin into a middle class family, his father was an actor and theatre manager and his mother was a writer.
More about Sheridan – including his dual over an insult to his beau, his attitute to being a politician
Click here to read more of Sheridan’s quotes
Click here to read about more Irish writers
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1823 Francis Fowke was born in Belfast on this day in 1823. He was an engineer and architect, and was the man responsible for the design and construction of several prestigious buildings in Ireland and Britain.
Fowke’s buildings were mostly built in the renaissance style that was the fashion at the time. However, he took advantage of advancements in technology, and used iron-framed buildings to create large exhibition spaces and lobbies.
The National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin was designed and built by Fowke in 1864. He was also the man behind the Royal Albert Hall in London and the Royal Museum in Edinburgh.
Fowke died suddenly in 1865 in London after a burst blood vessel could not be treated.
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1922 Cathal Brugha bled to death on this day in 1922 after being shot in the leg by the Irish Free State Army. Brugha was an Irish nationalist and a significant character in Ireland’s history. He was a key figure in the Easter Rising, the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War. He also held positions in the Irish parliament, including President of Dáil Éireann.
Cathal Brugha, Irish revolutionary who read the Declaration of Independence in Irish at the first Dáil, Discover his story.
Click here to read about more key characters from Irish history
Click here to read more about the Easter Rising
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1962 On this day in 1962, Seán Gallagher was born in County Cavan. He is a leading businessman in Ireland having worked for several successful companies. Gallagher also campaigned for the education of the dangers of alcohol for young people and was the creator of Drink Awareness for Young People programme, which was ran in schools around the country.
He has appeared on Irish television several times. He was one of the dragons on Dragon’s Den from 2008 to 2011. The programme features hopeful inventors and entrepreneurs seeking investment in their business from one of the wealthy dragons that are made up of successful business people.
Gallagher also took part in the 2009 series Lords of the Ring, in which several celebrities took part in a boxing competition in order to raise money for their selected charities. Gallagher won the competition and raised €17,350 for the National Council of Blind. In 2011, Gallagher ran for President of Ireland, but missed out finishing second in the vote behind Michael Higgins.
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1985 Happy birthday to Priya Emmanuel, born Deborah Priya Henry in Dublin on this day in 1985. Her father is Malaysian-Indian and her mother is Irish. The family moved to Malaysia when Emmanuel was still a child. She grew up to win the Miss Malaysia World in 2007. Emmanuel then went on to represent Malaysia in the Miss World contest the same year, and achieved a top-16 finish.
She returned to win the Miss Universe Malaysia beauty pageant in 2011 and again represented her country in the Miss Universe competition 2011.
Emmanuel has used her profile to help others where she can. She is the co-founder of Fugee School, which provides education for Somalian child refugees in Malaysia. She has also offered her support to numerous other worthy causes.
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1991 Happy birthday to Eve Hewson, born in Dublin on this day in 1991. She is an actress who has worked with global stars including James Gandolfini, Clive Owen and Sean Penn. Her most famous film to date was The Click, directed by Steven Soderbergh. Hewson is the daughter of Irish rock legend Bono, the frontman of U2.
Click here to read about more Irish actors
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