Americans in Dublin celebrated the United States' 225th Independence Day by dressing up, partying and flag-waving yesterday.
The American Chamber of Commerce held a special Fourth of July lunch in Dublin, where the sporting links between Ireland and the United States were remembered.
Surrounded by red, white and blue balloons, sports commentator and guest speaker Mr Micheal O Muircheartaigh spoke about the GAA's "American Invasion" in 1888.
The association took 53 Irish athletes on a tour of the United States. He said they arrived to a "tumultuous welcome", but things did not run quite to plan when the players ended up broke and depressed with the prohibition laws of the times.
"The days were very wet and the nights were very dry," he said.
Still, 17 of the players remained in the US.
The links continued between the two countries, culminating in the "crazy idea" of holding the All-Ireland final between Kerry and Cavan in New York in 1947.
He noted that only one-third of the players had the courage to take the then 12hour flight from Shannon to New York.
However, he said, they all came home by boat saying they would "never again" fly.
The chamber celebrates its 40th anniversary this year and its out-going president, Mr Jerry McCrohan, said the Fourth of July was celebrated around the world, but especially in Ireland because of the strong links between the two countries.
There were more balloons and streamers as students in the residence halls of American College Dublin celebrated Independence Day.
Many of the 59 students come from Florida. Their plans for a barbecue were scuppered by the weather, but they said they were impressed by the festive atmosphere in the Thomas Cook travel agents near Trinity College, where staff were in fancy dress.
There were cowboy hats and G.I. uniforms, as well as some complimentary refreshments for customers.
"Basically it was a staff morale thing. We decided to have a bit of a laugh," said Mr Darren McCarthy of Thomas Cook. They also ran special offers for the day, including giving $10 to everyone who booked a holiday to the US.