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The Obamas meet Irish President Mary McAleese after arriving in Ireland
Locals greeted the president and First Lady Michelle Obama with whoops of delight as they entered the village.
He arrived in Dublin earlier on Monday. Security is tight during the trip, following the US raid that killed Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan three weeks ago.
Crowds lined the streets in Moneygall, which normally only has 300 residents, to welcome Mr Obama to the village that was home to his great-great-great grandfather, a shoemaker.
During the couple's short visit, they visited the ancestral home of the Kearney family, shook hands with well-wishers lining Moneygall's flag-bedecked main street and enjoyed supping on a pint - or a half, in the first lady's case - of Guinness in one of the village's two pubs.
There had been a minor delay to the US president's schedule when his bomb-proof Cadillac - nicknamed "the Beast" - became stuck on a ramp on the way out of the US embassy in Dublin, forcing the US first couple to switch vehicles.
When he returns to Dublin later, Mr Obama will deliver an open-air speech on College Green.
After the Republic of Ireland, the president will also visit the UK, France and Poland. In France, he will attend a meeting of the Group of Eight (G8) major world powers.
Moneygall, County Offaly
- Village of 300 residents, 140km (90 miles) south-west of Dublin
- Moneygall has two pubs, but no bank, cash machine or petrol station
- President Obama's great-great-great-grandfather on his mother's side was a shoemaker in Moneygall
- His son, Falmouth Kearney, emigrated to New York in 1850 at the age of 19 at the height of Ireland's Great Famine
- President Obama was given a guided tour of the old Kearney family home
Mark Mardell, the BBC's North America editor, says Afghanistan will be high on the agenda, as will the upheaval in the Arab world.
On Tuesday, Mr Obama flies to London for a three-day state visit to the UK.He and his wife will stay at Buckingham Palace as guests of the Queen.
Mr Obama will hold talks with Prime Minister David Cameron at 10 Downing Street with the Nato operation in Libya expected to be high on the agenda.
Mr Obama will also address both houses of the UK parliament at Westminster Hall.
It is rare for a foreign head of state to make such an address in Westminster Hall - usually this is reserved for British monarchs.
The White House has said the visit will be an important opportunity for Mr Obama to reaffirm the strength of the "special relationship".
"The US and UK of course enjoy a special relationship," said deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes.
"There is no closer ally for the US in the world than the UK. We are in absolute alignment with the British on a range of core international security interests and, of course, our deeply shared set of values that have tied us together for many decades."
Relations reset
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It's a homecoming, of sorts. The claim the USA's 44th president is as Irish as bacon and cabbage is stretching it a bit. His distant relative - a triple great-grandfather as the Taoiseach Enda Kenny puts it - left behind the devastating impact of the Irish Famine to start a new life in 1850.
The son of a Black Kenyan man and a white woman from Kansas now has another aspect of his heritage to celebrate. He's doing so at a time when he's seeking re-election in a country where nearly 40 million people say they are Irish Americans.
Analysis
For the Irish, with an economy on its knees, any visit by an American president which may bring fresh trade and tourists in its wake is a bonus. For Barack Obama, this is a brief visit which mixes the political with the personal.It's a homecoming, of sorts. The claim the USA's 44th president is as Irish as bacon and cabbage is stretching it a bit. His distant relative - a triple great-grandfather as the Taoiseach Enda Kenny puts it - left behind the devastating impact of the Irish Famine to start a new life in 1850.
The son of a Black Kenyan man and a white woman from Kansas now has another aspect of his heritage to celebrate. He's doing so at a time when he's seeking re-election in a country where nearly 40 million people say they are Irish Americans.
On Thursday Mr Obama heads to Deauville, France, for the G8 summit where he will meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan.
On Friday, the US leader travels on to Poland to discuss proposals for a US missile shield in Europe which the Poles will partly host.President Obama hopes to press the reset button on relations with some US allies, after appearing to take the UK and the rest of Europe for granted, says our North America editor.
Security for the tour is expected to be unprecedented, following the US raid that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan earlier this month.
In an exclusive interview with the BBC aired on Sunday, Mr Obama said he would order a similar operation if another militant leader was found in Pakistan.
The killing of Bin Laden in a Pakistani garrison town strained ties between the two allies.
What are your expectations of President Obama's visit to Ireland? Are you taking part in events in Moneygall? Send us your comments using the form below.
