The Sean Treacy Pipe Band, from Moycarkey, Co Tipperary, led the Taoiseach up the track yesterday to the hilltop site where the short-lived rising of the Young Irelanders ended abruptly, but with honour, in July 1848.
Standing on a timber-planked trailer outside the cottage known as "The Warhouse", the Taoiseach acknowledged that 150 years ago this secluded part of Co Tipperary was at the centre of Irish history.
Flanked by direct descendants of some of the Young Ireland leaders, he said the men of 1848 had wanted nothing better than to see the two traditions working together for the common good of their country and for the relief of the suffering and hardship of the Famine years.
He said the State was negotiating to purchase the house, which at the time of the rising was occupied by the Widow McCormack and her five children. It was there, after a brief standoff with an occupying force of constabulary, that William Smith O'Brien called a halt to the action to prevent further violence and injury.
Mr Ahern said the cottage was an important historic monument and part of the national heritage. It was hoped to refurbish it and make it the site of a permanent exhibition commemorating the Young Ireland movement and the events of the 1848 rebellion in the area.
The Taoiseach flew by helicopter from the Galway Races and landed at the local hurling field. He was taken first to the small village called The Commons, where the Tricolour, symbolising peace between the traditions of orange and green, was brought from Paris by Thomas Francis Meagher ("Meagher of the Sword") and flown in public.
The Tricolour is now raised and lowered daily at a permanent memorial at the crossroads there. Just across the road, another plaque recalls the speed of John Joe Barry, "The Ballincurry Hare", who won international honours in running this century.
The nearby village of Ballingarry was resplendent in the sunshine. "They're painting like mad for the past week," said Ms Sadie Troy, of Civil Defence.
Mr Jackie Pollard (77) recalled the hardships endured by the men who worked the anthracite mines in the locality for generations. "The mining was a badger's life and dangerous. They went down there and they were lying in water."
At the Widow McCormack's cottage, Mr Anthony O'Brien, great-great-grandson of William Smith O'Brien, stressed the idealism of the Young Irelanders. "They were way ahead of their time, in their approach to workers' rights, women's rights, education, pluralism and the principle of self-determination."
Mr John Myles Dillon, descendant of Young Irelander John Blake Dillon, carried the actual Tricolour sash worn by Thomas Francis Meagher during the rising. "It was one of the less successful revolutions of the world but it was virtually bloodless and it was conducted with honour."
The Taoiseach said: "In the year of the historic Good Friday Agreement, it is right that we remember earlier noble attempts to bring peace with justice and true democracy to our island".
He walked through the garden that was once the Widow McCormack's cabbage patch to unveil a commemorative plaque on the gable of the cottage.
Then it was back down the narrow lanes to the village to unveil another plaque, visit the school, inspect an arts and crafts exhibition, and press the flesh with the local politicians of 1998.
The helicopter departed the hurling pitch, leaving the Slieveardagh region, which encompasses five parishes, to continue with a wide-ranging cultural and sporting festival to celebrate the heritage of this scenic and largely undiscovered part of Co Tipperary.