the queen's visit to ireland

Queen Elizabeth remembered in Ireland for historic reconciliation

Expressions of sympathy in Ireland demonstrate how Queen Elizabeth II achieved healing in the fraught history of Ireland and Britain.

Queen Elizabeth II reigned for more than 70 years and for 30 years during that time a vicious conflict was fought in the part of her United Kingdom known as Northern Ireland.

About 3,600 people were killed and more than 30,000 wounded from 1969 until the signing of an agreement in 1998, which largely brought peace between those fighting against British rule in the northern province of Ireland, and those battling to preserve and defend the union with Britain.

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The fighting, euphemistically known as “the Troubles”, was brutal, bitter, and sectarian.

British troops, the Northern Irish security services, Irish Republican Army (IRA) fighters, and pro-British Loyalist armed groups bombed and shot, killed and maimed, as they turned city streets and rural towns into guerrilla-war battlefields.

For generations of Irish nationalists and republicans, the British Crown and its forces were an enemy responsible for the degradation of centuries of colonial rule in Ireland.

Yet, on Thursday, two Irish soldiers lowered Ireland’s tricolour flag to half-staff at a government building in Dublin to mark the queen’s death . Irish embassies around the world also followed suit and lowered the republic’s flag as a mark of respect.

The Irish flag has been lowered to half mast at Government Buildings this evening to mark the death of HM Queen Elizabeth. Statement from Taoiseach @MichealMartinTD ➡️ https://t.co/luw9aLl0sl pic.twitter.com/kvs7Ki9zwv — MerrionStreet.ie (@merrionstreet) September 8, 2022

The flag at the Embassy has been lowered to half staff to mark the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. pic.twitter.com/HDm959iFSL — Embassy of Ireland Cairo (@IRLEmbCairo) September 9, 2022

Ireland’s President Michael D Higgins issued a statement “on behalf of the people of Ireland” expressing heartfelt sympathy.

Former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams – who had headed the party once commonly referred to as the political wing of the IRA – retweeted a message of condolence from the republican party’s current leader.

“To the Royal Family and all who mourn the death of Queen Elizabeth, especially Irish Unionists, I extend sincere sympathy,” Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald wrote in a tweet.

“She lived a long, full life. In her lifetime relationships between our countries were changed and changing. I salute her contribution to this transformation.”

To the Royal Family and all who mourn the death of Queen Elizabeth, especially Irish Unionists, I extend sincere sympathy. She lived a long, full life. In her lifetime relationships between our countries were changed and changing. I salute her contribution to this transformation — Mary Lou McDonald (@MaryLouMcDonald) September 8, 2022

The expression of sympathy in Ireland from all quarters demonstrates how Queen Elizabeth achieved something remarkable in the fraught history of the two countries.

And it began with a visit.

Symbols and reconciliation

In 2011, Elizabeth became the first British monarch to visit the Republic of Ireland since the country fought and gained independence from London almost a century earlier.

During her four-day trip, the queen wore green – the symbolism not lost in a country referred to as the “emerald isle”.

She laid a wreath at a monument dedicated to those who had fought and died for Irish independence from Britain.

She stepped onto the pitch at Dublin’s Croke Park stadium, the home of traditional Irish sport and the scene of a mass killing of 14 people by British forces almost 100 years earlier.

Then at a dinner in Dublin Castle, the former nerve centre of British rule in Ireland, the queen spoke some words in the Irish language.

The queen’s use of Gaelic, once banned under British rule, to begin her speech drew an audible gasp of surprise and a spontaneous round of applause from guests in attendance.

Min @EamonRyan described as "pivotal" the moment Queen Elizabeth spoke Irish at the State dinner in Dublin Castle in 2011 pic.twitter.com/zQa0T6yWbK — Morning Ireland (@morningireland) September 9, 2022

The queen’s visit – during which she expressed regret for centuries of conflict between the two countries – was a powerful gesture of reconciliation for Britain’s bloody past in Ireland.

Her description of the two countries as “firm friends and equal partners”, and her many other gestures, had the power to reset relations with Britain for more than one generation in Ireland.

“During those memorable few days eleven years ago, the queen did not shy away from the shadows of the past,” President Higgins wrote in his message of condolence.

“Her moving words and gestures of respect were deeply appreciated and admired by the people of Ireland.”

Healing history

A year after her visit to Ireland, the queen met and shook the hand of former IRA commander and then-Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, the late Martin McGuinness, in Belfast.

That handshake was historic.

The IRA had killed the queen’s cousin Lord Louis Mountbatten – the last viceroy of India – in 1979 when they blew up his fishing boat in Donegal Bay, in the republic’s northwest. Three other relatives of Mountbatten died in the attack.

Thirty years of bloodshed between Irish nationalists, pro-British loyalists, and the British military in British-run Northern Ireland was largely ended by the 1998 peace deal that was brokered by Irish and British leaders.

But it was the queen’s visit 13 years after the signing of the peace agreement that provided a degree of personal, historic healing.

Writing in Britain’s Guardian newspaper shortly after the Queen’s visit, Irish columnist Fintan O’Toole summed up a feeling likely experienced by many Irish people.

“There are, presumably, two rules the Queen has absorbed so deeply that they have become instinctive: don’t take risks; don’t stir emotions,” O’Toole wrote.

“She broke both rules in Ireland last week,” he wrote.

“To the great surprise of those of us who have little time for monarchy, she walked that line with amazing grace. It is not simply that she didn’t put a foot wrong. It is that every step seemed exactly right.”

Reflections on Queen Elizabeth II's historic trip to the Republic of Ireland in 2011

• Republic of Ireland
• Friday 9 September 2022 at 8:50am

In 2011, Queen Elizabeth II made an historic visit to the Republic of Ireland. It's widely remembered as a cordial affair - making history both as the first British monarch to visit the Republic of Ireland in 100 years, and the first since the nation gained independent from Britain.

It what was one of the most significant moments of her 70-year-reign, a series of cultural events and symbolic gestures set the pace for closer Anglo-Irish relations, while surpassing expectations with the candour with which the Queen spoke during a speech at Dublin Castle.

Following the announcement of her death, Irish President Michael D Higgins said the Queen "did not shy away from the shadows of the past" during her visit, and that her "moving words and gestures of respect were deeply appreciated and admired by the people of Ireland".

Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, said her 2011 state visit "marked a crucial step in the normalisation of relations with our nearest neighbour".

During the four-day visit, the Queen won praise after she laid a wreath and bowed her head in Dublin's Garden of Remembrance to pay tribute to the rebels who rose up against British rule in 1916; and for speaking Irish in an address to a state banquet at Dublin Castle.

"A Uachtarain agus a chairde," her address began, the Irish for 'president and friends'.

The then Irish President, Mary McAleese, who was seated beside the Queen during the event exclaimed a "wow", and the audience erupted into applause.

The Queen continued: "To all those who have suffered as a consequence of our troubled past, I extend my sincere thoughts and deep sympathy.

"With the benefit of historical hindsight we can all see things which we would wish had been done differently, or not at all."

Feargal Purcell, a former government press adviser who served Enda Kenny, said "a huge amount of history got condensed into that moment".

"I remember hearing Mary McAleese when the Queen started speaking Irish," he added.

"You could hear her amazement. She exclaimed and you could hear it. Not because she said it loudly, because she whispered it, but there wasn't a sound to be heard in the room beyond what the Queen was saying.

"I think that froze everybody. There was a bit of a time slowed down a little bit, in that moment, and what got condensed into that was a lot of hurt, and a lot of healing.

"It almost happened in real time: the healing and hearing that happened in that moment in that speech, a huge amount of history got condensed into that moment.

"It went from being a nervous situation to being a kind of mutual respect, and moved into joy" all over the course of the four-day visit, he said.

"He added that the McAleeses were important in laying the foundation in the years before the visit, and that the maturing of the East-West relationship was fast-tracked under Mrs McAleese's presidency.

Mr Kenny's government had just come into power after winning an election three months earlier, but the significance of the Queen's upcoming visit "was not lost on anybody", Mr Purcell said.

"The focus was on getting it right. It was seen for the opportunity that it turned out to be."

When asked whether the visit exceeded expectations from that moment in Dublin Castle, he said: "It did."

"It was a very fraught economic time for Ireland, and (the visit) seemed to be a place for everyone to go.

"It seemed as if there was this nervousness initially," he said. "There was a concern. And such was the public reaction that that seemed to almost evaporate.

"The security operation was significant, but it seemed to just calm and the story around the visit is that everyone settled into it, and that it became a hugely positive experience for everybody.

"Partly, initially relief, I think, and then it gained momentum. But I think that was down to the Queen mostly, and that moment.

"Because it was almost as if that moment gave licence to us all to move on. Every party has to move on for the shared history, but that line in that speech seemed to be a gateway into a more equal and mature relationship."

Of the Queen's bow at the Garden of Remembrance, Mr Purcell remarked: "It's amazing. All the words in the world, all the diplomacy in the world is really important.

"On reflection, what's recurring to me is the power of the personal gesture: unbelievable power in the words spoken at Dublin Castle, and in that bow.

"The bow seemed to me to be the action that backed up the words in Dublin Castle. It was the action, so if you look at the words, and you look at the memorial, the bow, you could tie one to the other.

"So it seemed to me that the Queen was determined that the visit was going to have an outcome."

Photographer Ray McManus photographed the Queen as she was escorted around the grounds of the Croke Park stadium in Dublin by Mrs McAleese and the then president of the GAA, Christy Cooney.

British forces shot dead 14 spectators at a Gaelic football match held in the stadium in 1920.

"She was very pleasant," he said, adding that the tour of the stadium was "very cordial, very relaxed".

"It was very ordinary, down-to-earth, there was no airs or graces about it.

"She didn't say a whole lot, which I think is her way. I remember taking a particular shot where she smiled profusely under the GAA logo with 1884 on it," he said, describing a golden GAA crest in the shape of a Celtic cross on a blue background.

"She just happened to stand between me and the GAA crest. I didn't particularly move or she didn't particularly move... But she just happened to stand there under the crest. And the gold of the crest and the golden colour, the yellow she had on at the time, just all matched in."

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Queen’s Ireland Visit Seen as Significant Advance

By Alan Cowell

• May 20, 2011

LONDON — Queen Elizabeth II wrapped up her groundbreaking four-day visit to the Irish Republic on Friday, a trip that ranked among the most politically freighted of her almost 60 years on the throne.

While the queen has no formal political power, her visit — the first by a British monarch — offered powerful symbols of reconciliation and drew broad acclaim among Irish politicians. Her status both as head of state and as the most respected member of Britain’s royal family was taken by her hosts as imparting a particular gravity to her words, sealing a closeness that has grown in recent years. Virtually every word and gesture — down to wearing Ireland’s distinctive emerald green when she arrived — seemed to have been weighed in advance to avoid any impression of royal hauteur.

“Together we have much to celebrate,” the queen said in a keynote address at a banquet in Dublin on Wednesday night, referring to “the ties between our people, the shared values and the economic, business and cultural links that make us so much more than just neighbors, that make us firm friends and equal partners.”

It was at the official dinner that the queen spoke the words that have been taken as the central message of her trip. “To all those who have suffered as a consequence of our troubled past, I extend my sincere thoughts and deep sympathy,” she said. “With the benefit of historical hindsight, we can all see things which we would wish had been done differently or not at all.”

The words were accompanied by sights and sounds that went some way toward illustrating the poles of the relationship.

For some Irish people the strains of the British anthem “God Save the Queen” wafting over their capital seemed to offer what might once have seemed an improbable refrain in a land that reviled the British monarchy for centuries. Ireland’s bloody war of independence led to the establishment in 1922 of the Irish Free State on territory that excluded Northern Ireland, which was then riven by deep unrest for decades.

Not everyone was prepared to accept the new order, and republicans staged limited protests. The start of the visit on Tuesday was marred by bomb scares, one of them involving a pipe bomb found in a tote bag aboard a bus heading for Dublin.

But if the sound of the British anthem signaled reconciliation, then the sight of empty streets cordoned off by about 8,000 police officers showed just how much Irish leaders were aware of the passions, bred of centuries, that the queen’s visit could ignite.

Only on the final afternoon of the visit did the police relax the tight security arrangements, allowing thousands of people in the southern city of Cork to throng the streets as the monarch, breaking with her schedule, walked to greet them.

The queen has paid frequent visits to Northern Ireland, and it is there that the contest of republicanism and unionism has played out most graphically in recent years. Whatever the relationship between London and Dublin, the enduring question of Irish reunification — not directly addressed by the queen — still looms over the political life of the north.

In a series of public comments, Gerry Adams, the president of Sinn Fein, the political wing of the Irish Republican Army, said normalization between Britain and Ireland would not be complete until the island was reunified.

While Mr. Adams praised the queen’s expression of sympathy as “sincere,” he told BBC radio on Friday that the visit had been “a page in a book — and we need to write the next page and the next page and keep the process moving on.”

In an article in The Guardian on Thursday, Mr. Adams said, “The complete normalization of the relationships within Ireland and between Ireland and Britain can only be fully achieved by ending partition and reuniting our people and the country.”

In various guises, Mr. Adams spent decades at the heart of the republican movement in Northern Ireland and was one of the main figures in the 1998 Good Friday agreement that laid the groundwork for peace between the mainly Catholic republicans, who seek a united Ireland, and the mainly Protestant unionists, who stand for union with Britain.

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The Queen's visit to the Republic of Ireland concludes

The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh visited the Republic of Ireland on 17-20 May. The first ever visit by a British Head of State.

At a banquet in Dublin Castle on Wednesday 18 May, the Queen offered her “sincere thoughts and deep sympathy” to the victims of Ireland and the UK’s troubled past.

She said with hindsight,”we can all see things which we would wish had been done differently or not at all”.

“So much of this visit reminds us of the complexity of our history, its many layers and traditions, but also the importance of forbearance and conciliation. Of being able to bow to the past, but not be bound by it.

Of course, the relationship has not always been straightforward; nor has the record over the centuries been entirely benign. It is a sad and regrettable reality that through history our islands have experienced more than their fair share of heartache, turbulence and loss.

These events have touched us all, many of us personally, and are a painful legacy. We can never forget those who have died or been injured, and their families. To all those who have suffered as a consequence of our troubled past I extend my sincere thoughts and deep sympathy. With the benefit of historical hindsight we can all see things which we would wish had been done differently or not at all. But it is also true that no-one who looked to the future over the past centuries could have imagined the strength of the bonds that are now in place between the governments and the people of our two nations, the spirit of partnership that we now enjoy, and the lasting rapport between us. No-one here this evening could doubt that heartfelt desire of our two nations.”

• Read the speech in full on British Monarchy website

Joining Her Majesty The Queen on the State Visit, Prime Minister David Cameron said the event “set the seal” on an already very strong relationship between the two countries.

He said the Queen’s State Visit to Ireland has shown enormous sensitivity to past issues and problems as well as the opportunities for the future.

• Read the PM’s remarks in full on Number10 website

Foreign Secretary William Hague accompanied The Queen on the visit, and met Irish Deputy Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore in Dublin on 17 May.

“It is a historic event, that’s not misusing this word, it is the first ever State Visit to Ireland by a British monarch. The Queen has made over three hundred overseas visits but this one is particularly special; a visit to our nearest neighbour with which we have uniquely close links and which is also, as you have said, one of our most important trading partners as well.

And I know that Her Majesty and the Duke of Edinburgh have been not only very much looking forward to their visit they have been delighted today by the warmth of the welcome from the President, from the Ministers and very much, indeed, from the people of Ireland.

This visit represents an important moment in British and Irish history. It marks the transformation of the relationship between Britain and Ireland in recent years, the strength of our economic, political and family ties and the progress that has been made in Northern Ireland as well. And it provides an excellent opportunity to celebrate all of these things and to place the emphasis on making the links even stronger for the future.”

• Foreign Secretary press conference in full The programme included a formal welcome by President McAleese at aras an Uachtarain, a ceremony at the Garden of Remembrance, a courtesy call on the Taoiseach at Government Buildings and a State dinner in Dublin Castle, at which both The Queen and the President delivered speeches.

The programme also included events at Trinity College Dublin, at the National War Memorial Gardens in Islandbridge, at the Guinness Storehouse and at Croke Park.

• read the full programme

On 19 May the British Embassy hosted a celebration of the visit.

Two thousand guests joined The Queen as she welcomed the President to enjoy an evening of fashion, music and theatre at an iconic modern venue in the Dublin docklands.

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Queen Elizabeth’s Complicated Relationship with Ireland, Britain’s First Colony 

L ike many of Britain’s former colonies , Ireland has had a complicated relationship with both Britain and its monarchy, one uniquely shaped by a geographical proximity that created intimate but not necessarily friendly ties both economically and culturally.

The death of Queen Elizabeth II raised much discussion about the British monarchy’s relationship with its former colonies . In the Republic of Ireland , which gained its independence in 1921, the response was respectful and somewhat muted, consistent with complex history.

Ireland endured eight centuries of political and military intervention by its neighbor before finally gaining its independence. But Queen Elizabeth (and now King Charles III) remained head of state in the six counties that make up Northern Ireland , which is still part of the U.K.— and a point of friction for 70 years. During the violent period of the late 1960s to late 1990s known as The Troubles, more than 3,700 people lost their lives, including the uncle of the Queen’s husband: Lord Louis Mountbatten , an icon of British imperialism, was killed in 1979 by a Irish Republic Army bomb.

Yet upon the Queen’s death, Irish politicians both North and South and on either side of the political divide issued statements of condolence, tribute and praise, testament to the important role she played in repairing relations between Britain and Ireland.

The first colony

Not only was Ireland Britain’s nearest colony, it was also its first. Conquered by the Normans in 1169, the island remained (apart from a brief decade of independence in the 1640s) a colony for over 700 years. It provided something of a test site for methods of governing, policies and practices, including the promotion of English culture and language, that were later transferred to other parts of the British Empire.

It also proved an early example of resistance. Generations of Irish nationalists viewed the British monarchy and army alike as the enemy. The IRA described the assassination of Mountbatten as a “discriminate act to bring the attention of the English people the continuing occupation of our country.” While the Queen a number of times visited Northern Ireland – where many in the Protestant majority identify as British – when it came to the Republic of Ireland there “effectively wasn’t a relationship after Irish Independence until the mid-1990s,” says Marie Coleman, Professor of Twentieth Century Irish History at Queen’s University in Belfast.

The monarchy was “not popular with a majority of the Irish population,” says Dan Mulhall, former Irish Ambassador to the U.K. and current Irish studies professor at New York University. “There were obviously traumatic events during the 19th century and then in the 20th century.”

The Queen and the peace

In 1993, the Queen invited then-President of Ireland Mary Robinson to Buckingham Palace for tea. It was the first official meeting between the heads of state of Ireland and Britain and marked the start of a slow process of improving relations during the 1990s, after the IRA announced a ceasefire, and its political branch, Sinn Fein, embraced negotiations. In 1995 the Prince of Wales (now King Charles III) visited Dublin.

As the peace process that led to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement unfolded, the relationship that Elizabeth II built with the next President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, helped pave the way for the first visit by a British monarch to the Republic of Ireland , in 2011. “There hadn’t been an official visit by the British monarchy in 400 years,” says Mulhall. The visit in 2011 would prove to be “a turning point in relations,” he adds.

“It was a recognition that both the U.K. and the Republic of Ireland treated each other as equal nations which had much in common with each other,” says Coleman.

There was a huge amount of symbolism during the visit, and the Queen clearly grasped its critical role in improving relations between the countries. The first stop was to lay a wreath at the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin, which is dedicated to the memory of those who died “in the cause of Irish Freedom” – in other words, those who fought for Irish independence against Britain. “Yet she went there and she bowed her head,” says Mulhall, ”recognizing the contribution those people had made to the evolution of modern Ireland.”

Read More : Queen Elizabeth’s Passing Could Push Some Countries to Alter Their Ties to the British Monarchy

And though the Queen’s visit drew protests and critics in the Republic of Ireland, in Northern Ireland, and in the U.K, “she understood the power of images and symbolism and did a number of things which clearly won people over and turned the visit into a great success,” says Mulhall.

At a state banquet in Dublin Castle, Queen Elizabeth began her speech with a greeting in the Irish language—” a uachtaran agus a chairde ” [President and friends]. The speech acknowledged the history and difficulties between the two countries. “Of course, the relationship has not always been straightforward; nor has the record over the centuries been entirely benign,” she said. “It is a sad and regrettable reality that through history our islands have experienced more than their fair share of heartache, turbulence and loss.”

That visit, however, paved the way for better relations and a year later, on a visit to Northern Ireland, there was another even more remarkable mark of progress. At the Lyric Theater in Belfast, the Queen shook hands with Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein, the then Northern Ireland deputy first minister. The handshake lasted just four seconds but was hugely significant given that McGuinness was a former IRA commander and had held a senior role in the paramilitary organization at the time of the assassination of Lord Mountbatten.

“It was obviously significant for that reason,” says Coleman. Though she adds it also was significant “for Irish Republicanism that McGuinness was prepared to shake the hand of a British monarch whose right to rule over any part of Ireland is not accepted by the party of which he was a leading figure at the time.”

A service, not a wake

Upon news of the Queen’s Sept. 8 death , two Irish soldiers lowered the Irish flag to half mast at government buildings in Dublin as a mark of respect.

The Irish flag has been lowered to half mast at Government Buildings this evening to mark the death of HM Queen Elizabeth. Statement from Taoiseach @MichealMartinTD ➡️ https://t.co/luw9aLl0sl pic.twitter.com/kvs7Ki9zwv — MerrionStreet.ie (@merrionstreet) September 8, 2022

But mourning was not the order of the day. Twitter in Ireland was alive with discussion on the role the monarchy had played in Ireland, and its colonial legacy. Many raised the issue of the long painful history of colonization and a video of Irish soccer fans singing “Lizzie is in a box” went viral, the club later issuing a statement condemning the chant.

Her death brought respectful condolences from political figures, including members of Sinn Fein, who commended the role she played in bettering relations between the two countries. “Queen Elizabeth’s Visit was pivotal in laying a firm basis for an authentic and ethical understanding between our countries,” said Irish President Michael D Higgins . “Her moving words and gestures of respect were deeply appreciated and admired by the people of Ireland and set out a new, forward looking relationship between our nations – one of respect, close partnership and sincere friendship.”

Taoiseach [Prime Minister] Micheal Martin said: “The Queen’s passing is indeed the end of an era. Her State Visit to Ireland in 2011 marked a crucial step in the normalization of relations with our nearest neighbor.”

The First Minister of Northern Ireland, Sinn Fein politician Michelle O’Neill acknowledged the Queen’s “significant contribution.” “Throughout the peace process she led by example in building relationships with those of us who are Irish, and who share a different political allegiance and aspirations to herself and her Government,” she said.

It’s with deep regret that I learned of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.   The British people will miss the leadership she gave as monarch.   I would like to offer my sincere sympathies and condolences to her children, and wider family as they come to terms with their grief 1/4 — Michelle O’Neill (@moneillsf) September 8, 2022

Since Brexit, the overall relationship between Ireland and the U.K. have been put under strain, with a number of disputes including a political row over trade arrangements. “The monarchy might be one conduit to try to repair this,” says Mulhall.

Read More : Queen Elizabeth II Has Died. Here’s How Prince Charles Became King

Indeed, in his first speech during a visit to Northern Ireland, the future King Charles promised to “seek the welfare of all inhabitants” of Northern Ireland and vowed to follow “the shining example” of his mother given her role in improving relations and reconciliation.

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A friend to Ireland: How the Queen’s visit here made history between two nations

‘A Uachtaráin agus a cháirde,’ the historic address began. Queen Elizabeth II’s visit to Ireland in 2011 made history both as the first British monarch to visit Ireland in 100 years and the first since the nation gained independence from Britain.

That brief but powerful greeting ‘president and friends’ as Gaeilge, marked a significant softening of relations between Ireland and Britain. Today Britain is shrouded in grief after its beloved Queen, a good friend to Ireland, died ‘peacefully’ at Balmoral yesterday at the age of 96.

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Story continues below.

As her distraught family gathered at her Highland home, the new King – who will be known as Charles III – last night spoke of their ‘greatest sadness’ and said her death would be ‘deeply felt throughout the country, the Realms and the Commonwealth, and by countless people around the world’.

Crowds carrying floral tributes gathered at the gates of Buckingham Palace, Windsor and Balmoral last night. Tonight Charles will give his first televised address to his country and Commonwealth as King, which he will have recorded earlier in the day. Sources said he has a ‘clear idea of what he intends to say’.

During her historic 2011 visit the Queen acknowledged the dificult history between our islands: ‘To all those who have suffered as a consequence of our troubled past, I extend my sincere thoughts and deep sympathy.

‘With the benefit of historical hindsight we can all see things which we would wish had been done differently or not at all.’

During the four-day State visit, she won praise after she laid a wreath and bowed her head in Dublin’s Garden of Remembrance to pay tribute to the rebels who rose up against British rule in 1916 and for speaking that little bit of Irish during the State banquet at Dublin Castle.

Feargal Purcell, a government press adviser to then-Taoiseach Enda Kenny, said that ‘a huge amount of history got condensed into that moment’.

He added: ‘I remember hearing Mary McAleese when the Queen started speaking Irish. You could hear her amazement.

‘She exclaimed, and you could hear it. Not because she said it loudly, because she whispered it, but there wasn’t a sound to be heard in the room beyond what the Queen was saying.

‘I think that froze everybody. Time slowed down a little bit, in that moment, and what got condensed into that was a lot of hurt and a lot of healing.

‘It went from being a nervous situation to being a kind of mutual respect and moved into joy.’.

Last night, the Defence Forces military police lowered the Irish flag to half-mast outside Government Buildings in Dublin after the announcement of her death.

In a tribute, President Michael D Higgins said the Queen ‘did not shy away from the shadows of the past’ during her visit, and that her ‘moving words and gestures of respect were deeply appreciated and admired by the people of Ireland’.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said her 2011 visit ‘marked a crucial step in the normalisation of relations with our nearest neighbour’.

Mr Purcell said Mrs McAleese was important in laying the foundations in the years before the visit and that the maturing of the relationship was fast-tracked under her presidency.

Mr Kenny’s government had just come into power after winning an election three months earlier, but the significance of the Queen’s upcoming visit ‘was not lost on anybody’, Mr Purcell said.

He added: ‘The focus was on getting it right. It was seen for the opportunity that it turned out to be. It was a very fraught economic time for Ireland. There was a concern, and such was the public reaction that that seemed to almost evaporate.

‘It was almost as if that moment gave licence to us all to move on. Every party has to move on for the shared history, but that line in that speech seemed to be a gateway into a more equal and mature relationship.’

Of the Queen’s bow at the Garden of Remembrance, Mr Purcell remarked: ‘On reflection, what’s recurring to me is the power of the personal gesture – unbelievable power in the words spoken at Dublin Castle, and in that bow.

‘The bow seemed to me to be the action that backed up the words in Dublin Castle. It was the action, so if you look at the words, and you look at the memorial, the bow, you could tie one to the other.

‘So it seemed to me the Queen was determined that the visit was going to have an outcome.’

Another defining moment of her visit was her trip to Cork’s historic English Market where among other traders, she met fishmonger Pat O’Connell. The treasured episode was captured and remains hung today behind the fish stall that Mr O’Connell’s mother Kathleen founded in 1962.

The Queen broke into a smile of genuine warmth as Mr O’Connell quipped about calling an ugly monkfish ‘the mother-in-law fish’ and the happy scene made its way to newspapers around the world.

Mr O’Connell later said: ‘We are influenced by history and we won’t forget history but there comes a time when you say, “It’s time to move on”. And at the end of the day, we have more in common with Britain than what separates us.’

Photographer Ray McManus photographed the Queen as she was escorted around the grounds of Croke Park in Dublin by Mrs McAleese and the then president of the GAA, Christy Cooney.

British forces shot dead 14 spectators at a Gaelic football match held in the stadium in 1923.

He said: ‘She was very pleasant,’ adding that the tour of the stadium was ‘very cordial, very relaxed’. Mr McManus added: ‘It was very ordinary, down-to-earth, there was no airs or graces about it. She didn’t say a whole lot, which I think is her way.

‘I remember taking a particular shot where she smiled profusely under the GAA logo with 1884 on it. She just happened to stand between me and the GAA crest. I didn’t particularly move or she didn’t particularly move. But she just happened to stand there under the crest.

‘There was a line of former presidents of the GAA and she was introduced to them all and shook hands with them all. All very senior GAA people who you wouldn’t have thought would be lining up to shake hands with the Queen. But they were.’

Four years after the Queen’s visit, her son Charles, now King, visited the harbour village Mullaghmore in Co. Sligo where the IRA murdered his great uncle, and the Queen’s cousin, Lord Mountbatten in 1979.

Of the Queen’s visit and of US President Barak Obama to Ireland three days later, Mr Purcell said ‘the people parked their pain, and people were in a lot of pain financially and other ways, and seemed to embrace all those things. ‘One of the things we might look at as neighbours, is to remind ourselves of what the Queen’s legacy might be for these islands.’

With additional reporting Gráinne Ní Aodha

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When Queen Elizabeth II made a historic trip to Ireland

The first official visit to ireland by a british monarch in 100 years, queen elizabeth was widely applauded for her gestures of reconciliation while on her four-day trip to ireland in 2011..

Queen Elizabeth II traveled to Ireland on May 17, 2011, becoming the first British monarch in 100 years to do so.

In light of the Brexit confusion and the lack of current government in Northern Ireland, it’s sometimes hard, even in this 24th anniversary year of the signing of the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement, to remember the enormous strides toward peace that the island of Ireland has made.

Queen Elizabeth II’s four-day trip to Ireland in 2011 is one of those moments that should be celebrated for showing just how far peace has come.

• WATCH: Queen Victoria during her final visit to Ireland in 1900
• Queen Elizabeth is a descendant of Irish High King Brian Boru

As the first British monarch to make an official state visit to Ireland in 100 years, Queen Elizabeth II arrived on May 17, 2011, at the invitation of then-Irish President Mary McAleese. The trip was then returned to the UK by President Michael Higgins in 2014, marking yet another milestone for the improved relationship between our two countries.

The very last British monarch to set foot in Ireland was Queen Elizabeth’s grandfather King George V, who toured the country in 1911 when the whole island was still a part of the United Kingdom. In the following 100 years, the 1916 Easter Rising, Irish War of Independence, Irish Civil War, First World War, and Second World War had all dramatically changed not just Ireland and England themselves but the relationship between us - all in the space of two generations of the British monarchy.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip greeted by then-Taoiseach Enda Kenny for the historic state visit.

While there were those who protested against the visit of a British Queen to Ireland, her four days in the country were heralded as an all-around success as everyone from Dublin to Cork welcomed her.

The importance of the trip in presenting the success of Irish peace cannot be forgotten. Not only did Queen Elizabeth use a few words in Irish in her main speech but she also laid a wreath in honor of those who had died for the cause of Irish freedom in Dublin’s Garden of Remembrance, essentially a mark of tribute to people who may have fought against her own country’s soldiers.  

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip having fun at Guinness Storehouse.

While she did not apologize for England's colonial past in Ireland, she did express her “sincere thoughts and deep sympathy” for the victims of the troubles and violence between the two states, and for some, that was enough.

"I believe that her expression of sincere sympathy for those who have suffered as a consequence of our troubled past is genuine," said Sinn Féin’s Gerry Adams at the time, with few of his colleagues in Sinn Féin disagreeing with him.

"I think this visit will set the seal on what is already a very strong relationship between our two countries, but a relationship I believe that can get even stronger still,” said then-British Prime Minister David Cameron, a now unfortunate statement when we think of the drastic effects that the Brexit vote will have on that relationship, a vote that happened under his watch.

The Queen even tried her hand at a few words in Irish at a gala dinner in Dublin Castle.

While some may have said they’d expect the gushing statements of the Irish Times, the paper which used to be known as the voice of unionism in Ireland, the national newspaper was not alone among the Irish press in announcing that the English Queen had won herself a fan or two in the Irish public.

The Irish Independent wrote of her speech in Dublin Castle on May 18, 2011: "It was a moving speech delivered in her clear cut crystal voice and after the toast, the room stood and applauded. Not just polite applause but a sustained heartfelt appreciation of the bridge that the Queen herself had built … she had the look of a woman for whom the weight of history had just got a lot lighter."

Such was the positive reception Queen Elizabeth had, she even received a standing ovation as she met with the Irish celebrities:

As well as visiting a memorial to the 49,400 Irish soldiers who died fighting in the British Army during the First World War, the monarch, accompanied by her husband Prince Philip, visited Croke Park, the main Gaelic Games stadium in Ireland, which was also the scene of a notorious attack by British troops on Irish citizens known as Bloody Sunday. On that day in 1920, during the War of Independence, 14 Irish civilians were killed including a young Co. Tipperary footballer named Michael Hogan, after whom one of the stands is named.

The trip also included a visit to the Rock of Cashel, Coolmore Stud, the English Market in Cork City, the Irish National Stud in Co. Kildare, and a performance from The Chieftains and Riverdance.

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Both historic and very ordinary: the Queen’s 2011 visit to Ireland

The irish words spoken by the queen provoked awe and set the tone for a positive and ‘joyous’ visit., article bookmarked.

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Queen Elizabeth II’s visit to Ireland in 2011 is remembered as a cordial affair for such an historic event – making history both as the first British monarch to visit Ireland in 100 years, and the first since the nation gained independence from Britain.

In what was one of the most significant moments of her 70-year reign, a series of cultural events and symbolic gestures set the pace for closer Anglo- Irish relations, while surpassing expectations with the candour with which the Queen spoke during a speech at Dublin Castle.

In a tribute following her death, Irish President Michael D Higgins said the Queen “did not shy away from the shadows of the past” during her visit, and that her “moving words and gestures of respect were deeply appreciated and admired by the people of Ireland”.

Irish premier Micheal Martin said her 2011 state visit “marked a crucial step in the normalisation of relations with our nearest neighbour”.

During the four-day visit, she won praise after she laid a wreath and bowed her head in Dublin’s Garden of Remembrance to pay tribute to the rebels who rose up against British rule in 1916; and for speaking Irish in an address to a state banquet at Dublin Castle.

“A Uachtarain agus a chairde,” her address began, the Irish for ‘president and friends’.

It prompted the then Irish president Mary McAleese, seated beside her, to exclaim ‘wow’, and the audience to erupt into applause.

The Queen continued: “To all those who have suffered as a consequence of our troubled past, I extend my sincere thoughts and deep sympathy.

“With the benefit of historical hindsight we can all see things which we would wish had been done differently or not at all.”

Feargal Purcell, who was a government press adviser to the then Irish premier Enda Kenny , said that “a huge amount of history got condensed into that moment”.

“I remember hearing Mary McAleese when the Queen started speaking Irish. You could hear her amazement. She exclaimed, and you could hear it. Not because she said it loudly, because she whispered it, but there wasn’t a sound to be heard in the room beyond what the Queen was saying.

“I think that froze everybody. There was a bit of a time slowed down a little bit, in that moment, and what got condensed into that was a lot of hurt, and a lot of healing.

“It almost happened in real time: the healing and hearing that happened in that moment in that speech, a huge amount of history got condensed into that moment.

“It went from being a nervous situation to being a kind of mutual respect, and moved into joy,” all over the course of the four-day visit, he said.

He said that the McAleeses were important in laying the foundations in the years before the visit, and that the maturing of the East-West relationship was fast-tracked under Mrs McAleese’s presidency.

Mr Kenny’s government had just come into power after winning an election three months earlier, but the significance of the Queen’s upcoming visit “was not lost on anybody”, Mr Purcell said.

“The focus was on getting it right. It was seen for the opportunity that it turned out to be.”

When asked whether the visit exceeded expectations from that moment in Dublin Castle, he said: “It did.”

“It was a very fraught economic time for Ireland, and (the visit) seemed to be a place for everyone to go.

“It seemed as if there was this nervousness initially,” he said. “There was a concern. And such was the public reaction that that seemed to almost evaporate.

“The security operation was significant, but it seemed to just calm and the story around the visit is that everyone settled into it, and that it became a hugely positive experience for everybody.

“Partly, initially relief, I think, and then it gained momentum. But I think that was down to the Queen mostly, and that moment.

“Because it was almost as if that moment gave licence to us all to move on. Every party has to move on for the shared history, but that line in that speech seemed to be a gateway into a more equal and mature relationship.”

Of the Queen’s bow at the Garden of Remembrance, Mr Purcell remarked: “It’s amazing. All the words in the world, all the diplomacy in the world is really important.

“On reflection, what’s recurring to me is the power of the personal gesture: unbelievable power in the words spoken at Dublin Castle, and in that bow.

“The bow seemed to me to be the action that backed up the words in Dublin Castle. It was the action, so if you look at the words, and you look at the memorial, the bow, you could tie one to the other.

“So it seemed to me that the Queen was determined that the visit was going to have an outcome.”

Photographer Ray McManus photographed the Queen as she was escorted around the grounds of the Croke Park stadium in Dublin by Mrs McAleese and the then president of the GAA, Christy Cooney.

British forces shot dead 14 spectators at a Gaelic football match held in the stadium in 1920.

“She was very pleasant,” he said, adding that the tour of the stadium was “very cordial, very relaxed”.

“It was very ordinary, down-to-earth, there was no airs or graces about it.

“She didn’t say a whole lot, which I think is her way.

“I remember taking a particular shot where she smiled profusely under the GAA logo with 1884 on it,” he said, describing a golden GAA crest in the shape of a Celtic cross on a blue background.

“She just happened to stand between me and the GAA crest. I didn’t particularly move or she didn’t particularly move… But she just happened to stand there under the crest. And the gold of the crest and the golden colour, the yellow she had on at the time, just all matched in.

“She went through the dressing rooms and was introduced to the likes of (Tipperary hurler) Lar Corbett, who’d be a boisterous sort of a fellow, so for him to be introduced to the Queen was interesting.

“There was a line of former presidents of the GAA and she was introduced to them all and shook hands with them all. All very senior GAA people who you wouldn’t have thought would be lining up to shake hands with the Queen. But they were.

“She was in the dressing rooms where the players all tog out.”

When asked was it jarring to see a significant figure on a historic visit in such ordinary surroundings, he said: “It was quite dramatic in the context.

“I’m a long time taking pictures of things and I would never have thought that I would have taken (pictures of) the Queen in Croke Park – either from the Queen’s side or indeed from the GAA’s side.

“I thought they were two quite distinct parties and never should they meet. But they did and it was very cordial and very pleasant.

“She walked out of the same tunnel where the players run out on to the pitch for an All-Ireland final.

“It was one of my more historical occasions taking pictures and it was a very pleasant occasion, to be fair.”

Jimmy Deenihan, then Ireland’s sports minister, escorted the Queen around the grounds of the stadium on that day and said he was surprised at how she was immediately “comfortable” in the setting.

“She was in awe of Croke Park. She was very impressed the fact that it was an amateur organisation and that you could have such a very sophisticated headquarters.

“She was very interested that Ireland had their own Gaelic games, she said that made a major statement about Ireland, about our own independent thinking in Ireland.

“Overall, that day she was very relaxed, and they were just very impressed that Ireland had their own national games.

“It was just a pleasure to be in her company for a half an hour or so. She comes across exactly as she comes across on television, or as people see her, that’s the way she was in Croke Park. A very warm individual, and very interested in what the GAA was all about and what it meant to Ireland.”

Mr Purcell said that he believes the historic visit “led to positivity” between the two governments and “you could see the benefits” up until the Brexit vote in the EU referendum in 2016.

Four years after the Queen’s visit, her son Charles would visit the harbour village Mullaghmore in Co Sligo where the IRA murdered his great uncle Lord Mountbatten in 1979.

Mr Purcell added that the Queen’s visit and that of US President Barak Obama to Ireland three days later “provided us with absolutely invaluable moments in which we could see hope for the future”.

“It was an enormously positive springboard for us. And the people parked their pain, and people were in a lot of pain financially and in every other way, and seemed to embrace all those things.

“I think one of the things that might happen, or we might look at as neighbours, is to maybe remind ourselves of what the Queen’s legacy might be for these islands.”

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The Queen and Us: An historic visit and the complicated relationship between Britain and Ireland

THE DEATH OF Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II is a truly global event and news story.

For many around the world it will mean a time of mourning and loss and for others it will mean very little or nothing at all. 

Both of these feelings are valid and rational so long as they don’t excessively intrude upon one another. 

This, however, is 2022 and such balance is impossible to achieve. Instead, opinions from all angles will be impossible to avoid.  

Ireland struggles to reconcile with Queen Elizabeth’s impact perhaps more than any other non-commonwealth nation. 

Australia, for example, may debate the queen’s status as head of state and therefore acknowledge her role in public life one way or the other. 

But Ireland faces the difficulty of being more exposed to Britain’s relationship with its monarchy than any other nation, while at the same time attempting to remain detached. 

For many people in Ireland, they admire the queen for the same reasons that many in Britain also do, namely her staunch commitment to her role for almost a century. 

This admiration was particularly clear during her visit to Ireland over ten years ago. Indeed, one of the overwhelming responses from people here was simple admiration for the  stamina of a woman who was then aged 85 . 

Queen Elizabeth’s four-day visit here in May 2011 was a huge moment that served in many ways as the template for the Decade of Commemorations that followed. 

During the visit,  she laid wreaths for Irish volunteers  who fought for Irish freedom as well as for Irish men who fought for the British Army during the First World War. 

In the years that followed, the laying of wreaths became almost commonplace and the fact that the queen had lanced that boil during her visit undoubtedly made a difficult period of remembrance that much easier. 

The visit here was the first ever by a reigning British monarch to the Republic of Ireland and it also capped President Mary McAleese’s 14 years as our head of state. 

During her speech at the State dinner in Dublin Castle, Queen Elizabeth spoke in glowing terms about McAleese and referenced how the pair had jointly opened a WW1 peace park in Belgium 13 years previously. It pointed to the long road walked before the visit could take place.

The State visit, however, also demonstrated that her ceremonial role has limits to what it can achieve in a country she does not preside over. 

While the visit was a success in how it continued the normalisation of the relationship between the two near neighbours, it did not heal wounds in a lasting way that some had predicted. 

Anyone who says following her death that the 2011 visit was a moment of lasting reconciliation is not acknowledging the reality of British-Irish relations over the past six years.   

On that evening in Dublin Castle, the monarch praised the “spirit of partnership” that existed between the governments’ of Ireland and the UK.

It is not unfair to say that this “spirit of partnership” has been torn asunder by Brexit and the relegation of Irish concerns as part of that process. 

The ongoing hurt expressed by families seeking answers to British actions in Northern Ireland demonstrates that answers rather than words are what is being sought . 

Much of the debate in the run up to Queen Elizabeth’s visit had focused on whether she would offer an apology for the actions of soldiers who acted in her name. 

There was no such apology but rather an expression that “we can all see things which we would wish had been done differently or not at all.”

But hoping for an apology or indeed lasting healing to come through the visit of a figurehead is perhaps too much of an expectation.

Political matters and government decisions have a much more fundamental effect on shaping opinion and healing for victims . 

Nonetheless, the queen’s commitment to Ireland continued after the 2011 visit, with the return trip by McAleese’s successor President Michael D Higgins taking place three years later . 

On that occasion, Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness met with the monarch and attended a banquet in Windsor . Three years earlier, Sinn Féin had objected to the queen’s visit to Ireland and did not take part in the events surrounding it . 

All these events demonstrate that Queen Elizabeth did play a role in how Ireland and the UK have attempted to move on from the past and towards the future.

This may also prove to be the case in her death. 

During that State dinner, Queen Elizabeth spoke about “the benefit of historical hindsight” and how it allows people to come to regret how events may have transpired.

Now, in the coming days and weeks following her death, it may offer us a chance to reflect and regret that the relationship between the two islands has worsened rather than improved since that visit.

Allowing people the space to either grieve or ignore it completely may be a good place to start.

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The Queen spoke Irish in speech at Dublin Castle during visit to Ireland in 2011

The 2011 visit to Ireland was the first visit by a British monarch to Ireland in over a century

• 19:16, 8 SEP 2022

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The Queen has passed away at 96.

The UK monarch died surrounded by her family at Balmoral, her estate in the Scottish Highlands. She had reigned for 70 years.

In 2011, she and the Duke of Edinburgh made a four-day state visit to Ireland, during which she made a visit to Dublin Castle and gave a lengthy emotional speech.

READ NEXT: Queen dies at 96 surrounded by her family as UK monarch passes away after 70 years on throne

The most expensive security arrangements in the history of the State marked the arrival of the first British monarch in over a century.

She arrived in Ireland wearing a green suit and was presented with a bouquet of flowers by a young girl before making her way to the President’s residence in the Phoenix Park.

The Queen visited Trinity College, the Guinness Storehouse, Irish War Memorial Garden, Islandbridge, Croke Park, National Stud Kildare, St Patrick's Rock, Cashel (Tour of St Patrick's Rock), and Cork.

Day two of the visit included a trip to Croke Park and a state dinner in Dublin Castle.

Queen Elizabeth II gave a speech at the State dinner, while former President of Ireland, Mary McAleese is seated to her right.

The Queen addresses the room and opens her speech, leaving the room in shock, 'A Uachtaráin, agus a chairde' which translates as 'President and friends', before going on to finish in English.

The crowd claps as the Queen speaks Irish, with Mary McAleese appearing shocked, and mouthing, “wow” several times.

In her speech, the monarch reflects on history and says: “Prince Phillip and I are delighted to be here to experience at first hand Ireland’s world famous hospitality.”

“Together we have much to celebrate, the ties between our people, Madame President speaking here in Dublin Castle, it is impossible to ignore the weight of history, as it was yesterday as you and I laid wreaths at the Garden of the remembrance.”

“Indeed so much of this visit reminds us of the complexity of our history, it is a sad and regrettable reality that throughout history our islands have faced heartache, turbulence, and loss.”

The Queen added: “With the benefit of historical hindsight, we can all see things which we would wish would have been done differently, or not at all.”

At the time, McAleese reflected on the monarch's visit, and wrote in an Irish Times column: “The success against all the odds of the efforts made by peacemakers of all persuasions, including those who once saw violence as an option, we can see the phenomenal human capacity for change and for improving the human condition.”

She called the visit of Queen Elizabeth “happy and healing”.

The 2011 visit to Ireland was the first visit by a British monarch to Ireland in over a century.

Her grandfather George V was the last King to visit in 1911.

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Irish eyes are smiling: show of respect turns Queen into runaway favourite

The Queen woke to find herself an unlikely star in the Irish Republic on Thursday, almost universally praised for her gestures of reconciliation during the first official visit by a British monarch in 100 years.

Her words and bearing have astonished and delighted many. Both the Queen's speech at the state dinner in Dublin Castle and her silent tribute at the national garden of remembrance to those killed fighting the British for Irish independence at the start of her visit on Tuesday have been well received. There has even been speculation that her visit may outshine Barack Obama's next week.

Eamon Gilmore, the tánaiste (Ireland's deputy prime minister) and foreign minister, told the Guardian: "The visit has gone very, very well and has been great for the country."

The broadcaster RTÉ said 500,000 viewers watched its coverage of the Queen planting a tree at the presidential residence on Tuesday, and other channels also covered the occasion.

Even her few words of Gaelic at the start of her speech at the state dinner on Wednesday evening – "A Úachtárain agus a chairde" ("president and friends", immaculately pronounced) – were an unexpected gesture. Mary McAleese, the Irish president, who was sitting beside the Queen, turned to others at the table open-mouthed, exclaiming "wow".

The speech, with its apology for "things we wish had been done differently or not at all", was greeted across the Irish political spectrum with near universal praise.

Her words, calling for forbearance and conciliation and the loosening of the knots of history, striving to create a more harmonious relationship "close as good neighbours should always be", led all the Irish papers.

All were full of praise for the address, which was delivered in front of dignitaries from both sides of the Irish border, including the taoiseach Enda Kenny, the Unionist first minister of Northern Ireland Peter Robinson, religious leaders including Cardinal Seán Brady, the Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney, Irish rugby star Brian O'Driscoll and various Irish former prime ministers. They gave the Queen rapturous applause and a standing ovation.

Some Sinn Féin politicians pronounced themselves "underwhelmed" – and found themselves roundly attacked.

The television interviewer Vincent Browne asked the parliamentarian Aengus Ó Snodaigh: "So when did the IRA ever apologise?"

The Sinn Féin president, Gerry Adams , however, united with David Cameron to praise the Queen's historic address. "I believe that her expression of sincere sympathy for those who have suffered as a consequence of our troubled past is genuine," he said.

His party has been criticised for refusing to meet the Queen.

Cameron said she had shown enormous sensitivity to past issues and problems, as well as the opportunities for the future. "I think this visit will set the seal on what is already a very strong relationship between our two countries, but a relationship I believe that can get even stronger still."

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh moved away from the symbolism of the first half of their visit, to what was undoubtedly more congenial and relaxed ground for her, visiting several stud farms on the Curragh near Dublin.

At the Irish National Stud at Kildare the Queen was applauded as, visibly relaxed and smiling broadly, she was introduced to jockeys, trainers, farriers and apprentices and shown racehorses. Sue Lilley, farrier course co-ordinator, said: "This is the biggest day of our lives."

Simon Coveney, the Irish agriculture minister, who accompanied the royal party, said: "I think she is on comfortable ground here, surrounded by horsey people, many of whom she knows. She would be welcome to come to the races here at any time."

Michael O'Connell, the Labour lord mayor of Cork, called on residents to line the route when the Queen visits the city. It is yet another resonant gesture, as one of O'Connell's predecessors, Terence MacSwiney, famously starved himself to death in Brixton prison in 1920 after being jailed by the British for sedition.

O'Connell said the visit was "a unique opportunity for the people of Cork, civic leaders and businesses to show the best of what our special city has to offer and to make an unforgettable first impression.

"It's our opportunity to give Queen Elizabeth a welcome to remember in front of an audience of over 30 million people tuned in worldwide."

In Dublin, the British embassy hosted a reception to mark the visit, with a fashion show featuring Irish and British designers, followed by a concert featuring the boy band Westlife, the X Factor finalist Mary Byrne, who was born locally, and the 1996 Irish Eurovision song contest winner Eimear Quinn.

Later, the Queen was given a five-minute standing ovation as she went on to the stage to meet performers after a gala concert at the Dublin Conference Centre.

Members of the 2,000-strong audience cheered and whistled as the monarch waved back enthusiastically at the overwhelming response.

It was the first time members of the Irish public had been able fully to show their support for the Queen's decision to pay her first State visit, and the crowd inside the venue remained on their feet clapping her for the entire time she was on the stage meeting acts.

Gay Byrne, the TV personality who compered the evening, told the audience: "You were present at an historic occasion. Remember it."

When the Queen arrived inside the auditorium she was given a warm reception, before Byrne said: "I never dreamed I would live to see this day."

Obama will be visiting County Offaly to see his ancestral family roots, before a state visit to London when he will meet the 85-year-old woman who has unexpectedly become an Irish media star.

Press Reaction: 'Not just polite applause'

The Irish newspapers have covered the Queen's visit in exhaustive detail, from the constitutional and political implications to details of the state dinner and Her Majesty's clothes – and all have been lavish in their praise of the 85-year-old monarch.

The Evening Herald: "You really could not make it up … It was truly a spectacle of epic proportions. When Queen Elizabeth rose to speak at last night's state dinner in Dublin Castle, stylish in a white silk crepe state dress and the Queen Mary tiara, she had a little surprise up that shamrock-embroidered sleeve. In a strong voice that belied her 85 years she began with the words "A Uachtaráin agus a chairde".

Irish Independent: "It was a moving speech delivered in her clear cut crystal voice and after the toast the room stood and applauded. Not just polite applause but sustained heartfelt appreciation of the bridge that the Queen herself had built … she had the look of a woman for whom the weight of history had just got a lot lighter."

Irish Times: "For some, perhaps far fewer in number than was the case on Monday … Queen Elizabeth should simply have apologised for colonial rule, or never have come at all. As expected, she was far more nuanced … Queen Elizabeth is welcome as a remarkable woman in her own right, as a figure to whom a significant minority on this island give allegiance and, above all, as a symbol of the mutual affection and common interests of two separate but closely connected countries."

• Queen Elizabeth II
• Gerry Adams

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