Events are being held in Dublin today to mark the centenary of the first ever sitting of the Dáil.

A joint sitting of the Dáil and the Seanad will take place at the Mansion House, where the Dáil first publicly sat on January 21st 1919.

President Michael D Higgins will also deliver a keynote address during today's ceremony.

The Mansion House was open to the public over the weekend ahead of today's events, with Lord Mayor Nial Ring saying more than 5,000 people visited over three days.

He suggested the visitor numbers were a "great testament" to how the public has embraced the celebrations surrounding the first Dáil sitting.

First Dáil

The Dáil first sat in January 1919 in the wake of the general election the previous December.

The vote had seen 69 Sinn Féin members elected.

While there was a private sitting of Sinn Féin members earlier in the month, the first public session didn't take place until January 21st.

Only 27 elected members attended the first meeting in the Mansion House - 34 others were in prison, while others were on undercover missions.

The unionists and the Irish Parliamentary Party - who won 32 seats between them - refused to attend.

The Mansion House was chosen as the location for both its capacity, as well as the need for the first representatives to meet in a building that had as few links as possible with previous regimes in the country.

Proceedings took place in the Irish language to help signify the commitment of those involved to break away from Britain.

The opening words in the session were delivered by Count Plunkett, and Cathal Brugha was elected unopposed as acting Ceann Comhairle.

It was also attended by dozens of journalists, including many from foreign news outlets.