The national anthem was also played as the the Queen and President Mary McAleese stood side by side at the site where Irelandcommemorates the men and women who died resisting British rule.
The first official royal visit since independence took place amid the biggest security operation ever mounted in the state with thousands of police and armed soldiers on the streets of the capital.
A crowd of dissident republicans, opposed to the peace process in Northern Ireland, were held back by riot squads not far away but, apart from a few arrests and missile throwing, trouble did not disrupt an extraordinary occasion.
Students and staff cheered and applauded at Trinity College as the royal party arrived for a private viewing of the Book of Kells.
The 15 minute wreath-laying ceremony at the garden was the first major engagement in a carefully planned four day trip, which will tomorrow see Ireland's war dead remembered at Islandbridge, and Croke Park where 14 civilians were shot dead by British troops in 1920.
Former Irish prime minister Brian Cowen, who formally invited the Queen last year, declared relations between Britain and Ireland have been transformed by the peace process.
"The vast, vast majority of the people of Ireland wanted to see this day come," he said.
The Garden of Remembrance opened in Easter 1966 to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1916 Rising when seven signatories to Ireland's Proclamation of Independence, backed by the 1,000 strong Irish Citizen Army, launched a revolution against British rule beginning with the takeover of the GPO a few hundred yards away on O'Connell Street.
It is dedicated to "the memory of all those who gave their lives in the cause of Irish freedom".
The Queen's attendance at the garden is a required element of the State visit under diplomatic protocol.
Scores of streets in the capital remained sealed off as the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh travelled from the President's residence in the Phoenix Park to the garden and Trinity.
Despite groups of well-wishers on some routes the royal couple did not meet the public at any stage and it is unlikely they will at all this week.
The Queen touched down at Baldonnel aerodrome around midday wearing green in a symbolic gesture to Ireland and its people.
She changed into an ivory coat with olive green trim for the day's later engagements.
The royal visit began on the anniversary of the 1974 Dublin-Monagahan bombings when 34 men, women and children - including an unborn baby - were killed in no-warning car bombs in the greatest loss of life in a single day of the Troubles.
Campaigners have demanded Britain open secret intelligence files on the atrocities, accusing security forces of colluding with loyalist paramilitaries.
The first official royal visit since independence took place amid the biggest security operation ever mounted in the state with thousands of police and armed soldiers on the streets of the capital.
A crowd of dissident republicans, opposed to the peace process in Northern Ireland, were held back by riot squads not far away but, apart from a few arrests and missile throwing, trouble did not disrupt an extraordinary occasion.
Students and staff cheered and applauded at Trinity College as the royal party arrived for a private viewing of the Book of Kells.
The 15 minute wreath-laying ceremony at the garden was the first major engagement in a carefully planned four day trip, which will tomorrow see Ireland's war dead remembered at Islandbridge, and Croke Park where 14 civilians were shot dead by British troops in 1920.
Former Irish prime minister Brian Cowen, who formally invited the Queen last year, declared relations between Britain and Ireland have been transformed by the peace process.
"The vast, vast majority of the people of Ireland wanted to see this day come," he said.
The Garden of Remembrance opened in Easter 1966 to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1916 Rising when seven signatories to Ireland's Proclamation of Independence, backed by the 1,000 strong Irish Citizen Army, launched a revolution against British rule beginning with the takeover of the GPO a few hundred yards away on O'Connell Street.
It is dedicated to "the memory of all those who gave their lives in the cause of Irish freedom".
The Queen's attendance at the garden is a required element of the State visit under diplomatic protocol.
Scores of streets in the capital remained sealed off as the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh travelled from the President's residence in the Phoenix Park to the garden and Trinity.
Despite groups of well-wishers on some routes the royal couple did not meet the public at any stage and it is unlikely they will at all this week.
She changed into an ivory coat with olive green trim for the day's later engagements.
The royal visit began on the anniversary of the 1974 Dublin-Monagahan bombings when 34 men, women and children - including an unborn baby - were killed in no-warning car bombs in the greatest loss of life in a single day of the Troubles.
Campaigners have demanded Britain open secret intelligence files on the atrocities, accusing security forces of colluding with loyalist paramilitaries.
