An estimated 1,000 protesters turned out on Saturday for two demonstrations organised by the Stop Bush Campaign, one near Dromoland Castle and the other near Shannon airport.
Protesters arrived in buses from around the country to join locals at Clarecastle a few miles outside Ennis. They marched to Latoon bridge, less than a mile from Dromoland Castle, where a cordon of 50 uniformed gardaí blocked the road.
The warm and sunny weather contributed to a carnival-like and good-humoured atmosphere among the demonstrators, which included children and families.
At one stage one group of protesters, carrying a "cage" with a luminous orange prison boiler suit, made a dash across a field in an attempt to serve an "arrest warrant" on President Bush, but were stopped and turned back.
Protesters chanted slogans criticising Mr Bush, while speakers accused the Taoiseach of complicity in relation to the war in Iraq through the use of Shannon airport to refuel military planes.
Mr Richard Boyd-Barret, chairman of the Irish Anti-War Movement and one of the main organisers of the protest, told the crowd it was "an utter shame and disgrace" that so much public money and resources had been used to facilitate the visit of Mr Bush, whom he called a "war criminal".
Local labour councillor and Shannon town mayor Mr Greg Dufftold the crowd he wanted to "nail a lie" that the protests were jeopardising jobs and investment in the Shannon region.
Following the protests, Mr Brendan Butler, of the NGO Peace Alliance , said that "we predicted from the beginnings of the Bush visit that all our protests would be peaceful and family -friendly, and that is what they turned out to be.
"All the money and resources spent on protecting George Bush from his protesters was unnecessary, and should have been spent on health and education."
With the road between Latoon bridge and Shannon airport closed, protesters had to get back into vehicles, and take a detour to Shannon town, which took many nearly 90 minutes because of traffic tailbacks.
At Shannon the protesters were allowed march from the town centre for a mile to the Drumgeely roundabout, just short of the airport perimeter.
There was a much greater security presence at the airport, with hundreds of uniformed officers backed up by the Garda Mounted Unit. The Garda public order unit was also on standby.
Three peace activists, including former Army officer Mr Edward Horgan, were arrested by gardaí on Shannon estuary after their small inflatable craft was intercepted by a Naval Service patrol boat as it approached the exclusion zone established for the Bush visit.
They were charged with public order offences at a special sitting of Ennis District Court on Friday evening. All three were bailed to July 9th.
Meanwhile, a prominent peace campaigner told a rally in Cork on Saturday that Ireland must not allow itself to be turned into a militaristic state, writes Barry Roche, Southern Correspondent. Prof John Maguire, of the Cork Anti-War Campaign, warned of the dangers of "corporate militarism" following the deployment of Army personnel and equipment, including tanks, at Shannon airport for the Bush visit.
Singer Kris Kristofferson used a concert in Killarney, Co Kerry, last night to criticise Mr Bush's policy on Iraq. He also criticised former US president Mr Bill Clinton who, on becoming president, fired a missile at Baghdad.
The singer told an audience of 12,000 that the people of Baghdad must dread a US election because every time someone wins they fire a couple of missiles