The President laid flowers at the Australian Monument to the Great Irish Famine.
The memorial to the Great Irish Famine honours the young women who came from the workhouses of Ireland to Australia between 1848 and 1850 on a special emigration scheme.
The monument was inspired by the arrival in Australia of over 4,000 single young women, most of whom were teenagers. They arrived under a special emigration scheme designed to resettle destitute girls from the workhouses of Ireland during the Great Famine.
The 420 names etched in the glass panels of the memorial represent all 4114 workhouse emigrants.
"We are defined as a people by what we choose to commemorate."
