Michelle Obama and her daughters are attending a special performance of Riverdance in Dublin's Gaiety Theatre this evening. The First Lady is accompanied by Sabina Higgins and Fionnuala Kenny.
Hundreds of schoolchildren from across the country were selected to attend this special performance of Riverdance to celebrate the gathering. This is the final event of the day in the First Lady's trip to the Republic.
After arriving in Dublin Airport, Michelle Obama and her daughters Malia and Sasha went to Trinity to see work completed there on their family tree and the Book of Kells.
The First Lady has also met with embassy staff here in Dublin before arriving here to meet the first ladies of Irish politics - Sabina Higgins and Fionnuala Kenny.
After speeches from Mrs. Kenny and Mrs. Obama they will view Riverdance before the Obama's return to stay in the Shelbourne Hotel tonight.
Tomorrow morning they will visit Wicklow National Park before travelling onto Germany with President Obama.
Mrs. Obama told the audience of children to allow their imaginations run free, and dream big.
Earlier the US first familyvisited Trinity College in Dublin and viewed the Book of Kells.
The Irish university was the first visit as part of their itinerary here. First Lady Michelle Obama and her two daughters, Sasha and Malia visited the Old Library.
Welcoming them, Provost Dr. Patrick Prendergast said "We are delighted to welcome the US First Lady and daughters, to Trinity College, Ireland’s oldest university which has produced some of the world’s great minds across the sciences and the humanities, including two Nobel Laureates, Samuel Beckett in literature and Ernest Walton in science".
"We are honoured by your visit which goes to strengthen our relations with America. As a country, America has welcomed many of our graduates over the years where a large number of our alumni are living. Our graduates who play a critical role in shaping the knowledge economy are our diaspora" he added.
The Obama's visited Trinity’s Long Room situated in the College’s 18th century Old Library building.
During their visit they were escorted by the Provost where they were shown the Book of Kells, and the First Lady and her daughters were also given a presentation on their own family genealogy and connections to Ireland.
It researched President Obama’s Irish ancestry from Falmouth Kearney, President Obama’s second great-grandfather to his seventh great-grandfather, Joseph Kearney.
The Kearneys belonged to the Church of Ireland and John Kearney, who was a distant cousin of the President, went on to become the Provost of Trinity College Dublin, and later Bishop of Ossory. He held the Chair of Oratory in Trinity from 1781 until his appointment as Provost in 1799. As part of the genealogy exhibition the Obama's were shown an original 19th century map provided by the National Library of Ireland of lands of Gorthgreen from where some of the family originated.
They also saw the College Harp - Ireland's oldest harp dating from the 15th century.
Mrs. Obama and her two daughters are here for a two-day visit as President Barack Obama attends the G8 summit in Northern Ireland. This evening they will go to a special showing of Riverdance at the Gaiety Theatre which will be attended by 1,000 school children.
Mrs. Obama apparently promised her daughters the last time she visited Ireland with her husband in 2011 that she would bring them the next time.
The plane carrying the first family touched down around 11:30am
You can view our Storify of today's events by clicking here.
