"Sweet Auburn, loveliest village of the plain," was how Oliver Goldsmith began his poem The Deserted Village, immortalizing the village, Pallas, where he was born. Now Auburn exists in name only, yet its associations still draw thousands of Goldsmith's fans each year to Longford and Westmeath.

Goldsmith was born in 1728 at Pallas, near Ballymahon in County Longford. Most of his boyhood was spent near Auburn in the parsonage at Lissoy, County Westmeath. Lissoy is now only a ruin with only a plaque to mark its significance.

In 1745 he went to Trinity College, Dublin, where he studied both law and medicine. He then began to wander across Europe making a living by playing the flute, though his financial circumstances were never fulsome. Following his wandering ways he came to live in England in 1756, however his financial situation did not improve. He worked as a chemist, a reader for a printer and even as a school usher. All the time he was writing and he began to come to the notice of some of the eminent men of the time including Dr. Johnson and the Whig politician Charles Fox.

Goldsmith's prose shows some remarkable variety. He wrote some satirical observations on English society under the guise of letters from an imaginary oriental in "The Citizen of the World" in 1759. His novel "The Vicar of Wakefield" is generally considered by critics as one of the best of the eighteenth century novels. Today it is still found on the English courses of many schools.

In drama Goldsmith wrote two comedies, "The Good-natured Man" in 1786 and "She Stoops to Conquer" in 1773. The second play has remained a classic to the present day with its ingenious plot and hilarious characters. Despite his prolific writings, Goldsmith always remained poor. He was unable to keep any of the money he earned and lived in poor lodgings in London until he died in 1774. His debts were of the order of 2,000 pounds, (approximately $2,000 dollars), a large sum in those days. Although his end was in many ways tragic he achieved immortality through his writings.