A milestone in relations between Ireland and Britain was reached in June 1977, when the Fine Gael- Labour coalition led by Liam Cosgrave ended an official boycott of royal occasions in place since the foundation of the State.
A service and reception to mark the 25th anniversary of the queen's accession - organised by Church of Ireland dean of St Patrick's Cathedral Victor Griffin and the British embassy - was attended by minister for foreign affairs Dr Garret FitzGerald.
President Patrick Hillery sent greetings to the queen on the "happy occasion" and expressed his "sincere felicitations" and good wishes for her welfare and the prosperity of the British people.
Dr FitzGerald had previously written to taoiseach Liam Cosgrave recommending the president send a message of congratulations.
The queen replied to send her "sincere thanks", saying she "greatly appreciated" Dr Hillery's kind message.
Files released today by the National Archives reveal details compiled by the taoiseach's staff about the cold relations that preceded the decision to mark the queen's silver jubilee.
In 1935 Éamon de Valera, then titled president of the executive council, declined an invitation to silver jubilee celebrations for King George V in London.
The reasons cited for non-acceptance - partition and the ongoing dispute about the land annuities - were set out in a lengthy letter sent by de Valera to then British prime minister, Ramsay MacDonald.
"Further communications from London about 'celebrations it may be decided to arrange in other parts of His Majesty's dominions' were simply noted," according to a note to the taoiseach.
"There does not appear to have been any celebrations in Dublin - which is hardly surprising at a time when we were in the middle of the Economic War, and of course there was no British diplomatic mission here then," said the note.
The chill continued for the queen's coronation in 1953, when a garden party in Dublin, arranged by the British, Canadian and Australian embassies, was shunned by the Fianna Fáil government.
At the time, the cabinet decided that ministers would decline invitations and "an intimation of the government's intention would be conveyed to State officials and Army and Garda officers to whom invitations were likely to be sent".
De Valera, then taoiseach, told the Dáil the government could not accept invitations "in view of the fact that the royal style and title were unnecessarily - and deliberately - linked up by the British government with the partition of our country and with the British claim to sovereignty over part of our national territory".
The official who undertook the research said it was his personal view that it would be "desirable that the government should at least be represented at the service". However, the file also shows the Department of Foreign Affairs was not in favour of the Naval Service accepting an invitation to take part in a jubilee review of the British fleet - so "heavy commitments" were given as the reason for refusing.
The department also opposed the participation of the State's sail training vessel, Creidne, saying it "would appear preferable politically" if it did not "participate in such a function".
Skipper of the Creidne, Captain Healy, was strongly supported by his committee in arguing it was contrary to the spirit of sail training not to participate for political reasons.
The aim of sail training was to bring young people from different countries together and to foster international goodwill and understanding. The compromise, according to a government note, was for the Creidneto participate "in the big international sailing race off Britain" but it "should not participate in the silver jubilee review".
The file also reveals that a London company wrote to the taoiseach offering him a chance to buy a limited edition of gold and silver replicas of jubilee "stamps of royalty". The file does not indicate if there was any response to the offer.
