US President Barack Obama has used an open-air speech in the Irish capital to reaffirm US-Irish ties, at the start of a week-long tour of Europe.
Mr Obama praised the Irish people for striving to overcome sectarian differences and financial difficulties.
He was addressing thousands of cheering people in Dublin's College Green.
Earlier he visited Moneygall, a small village in County Offaly that was home to one of his ancestors who emigrated to the US in 1850.
"Hello Dublin! Hello Ireland! My name is Barack Obama of the Moneygall Obamas, and I've come home to find the apostrophe that we lost somewhere along the way," said the US president as he began his evening address.
He then said in somewhat stilted Gaelic that he was happy to be in the Republic of Ireland.
"Whenever peace is challenged... America will stand by you always in your pursuit of peace," he said.
The Obamas had landed in Dublin earlier on Monday amid tight security following the US raid that killed Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan three weeks ago.Mr Obama met Irish President Mary McAleese, and also held talks with Taoiseach Enda Kenny.
Later, Mr Obama will fly to the UK, hours earlier than expected to avoid a potential delay due to the ash cloud being emitted from a volcano in Iceland.
Later this week he will visit Poland and then France, where he will attend a meeting of the Group of Eight (G8) major world powers.
'Special relationship'
On Monday afternoon, crowds lined the streets in Moneygall - which has just 300 residents - to welcome the Obamas to the village that was home to the president's great-great-great grandfather, a shoemaker.
Locals greeted Mr Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama with cries of "Welcome home!" as they entered the village.
The couple visited the ancestral home of the Kearney family, shook hands with well-wishers lining Moneygall's flag-bedecked main street and enjoyed supping on a pint of Guinness - or a half, in the first lady's case - in Ollie Hayes' pub, one of the village's two drinking establishments.
There had been a minor delay to the schedule when the bomb-proof presidential Cadillac - nicknamed "the Beast" - became stuck on a ramp on the way out of the US embassy in Dublin, forcing the US first couple to switch vehicles.On Tuesday, Mr Obama flies to London for a three-day state visit to the UK.
He and his wife will stay at Buckingham Palace as guests of the Queen.
Mr Obama will hold talks with Prime Minister David Cameron at 10 Downing Street.
Mark Mardell, the BBC's North America editor, says Afghanistan will be high on the agenda, as will Nato's operation in Libya and the upheaval in the Arab world.
Mr Obama will also address both houses of the UK parliament at Westminster Hall.
It is rare for a foreign head of state to make such an address in Westminster Hall - usually this is reserved for British monarchs.
The White House has said the visit will be an important opportunity for Mr Obama to reaffirm the strength of the "special relationship".
"The US and UK of course enjoy a special relationship," said deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes.
"There is no closer ally for the US in the world than the UK. We are in absolute alignment with the British on a range of core international security interests and, of course, our deeply shared set of values that have tied us together for many decades."
Relations reset
On Thursday Mr Obama heads to Deauville, France, for the G8 summit where he will meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan.On Friday, the US leader travels on to Poland to discuss proposals for a US missile shield in Europe which the Poles will partly host.
President Obama hopes to press the reset button on relations with some US allies, after appearing to take the UK and the rest of Europe for granted, says our North America editor.
Security for the tour is expected to be unprecedented, following the US raid that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan earlier this month.
In an exclusive interview with the BBC aired on Sunday, Mr Obama said he would order a similar operation if another militant leader was found in Pakistan.
The killing of Bin Laden in a Pakistani garrison town strained ties between the two allies.
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