Born in Baie-Comeau Quebec, Brian Mulroney grew up in a bilingual household, one of six children.

The first in his family to attend college, he became Prime Minister of Canada in 1984, and held the position until 1993.

His accomplishments included sanctions against South Africa, land claims settlement with the Inuit, the Goods and Services Tax (GST), and free trade with the United States.

Mulroney was known for sprinkling prose from his Irish heritage into his speeches. He even recalled lines by Thomas d’Arcy McGee, an Irish immigrant and Canadian journalist, in an address honoring U.S. President Ronald Reagan.

In March of 1985, The Shamrock Summit, a 24-hour meeting between Reagan and Mulroney in Quebec, opened the door for free trade agreements between the U.S and Canada.

The meeting concluded with the two men evoking their mutual Irish ancestry by singing “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling.”

Mulroney traces his Irish ancestry to Co. Carlow.

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