In Ireland, Queen Elizabeth Offers ‘Deep Sympathy’ For Past

LONDON — Queen Elizabeth II neared the end of a visit to the Irish Republic on Thursday after visiting the site of a massacre more than 90 years ago that still evokes memories of fierce hostilities and speaking of her “deep sympathy” for past suffering.

At an official dinner on Wednesday night the queen offered what seemed an unusual, if diplomatically calibrated, suggestion of regret — short of an apology — for events that brought bloodshed to citizens of both countries.

“To all those who have suffered as a consequence of our troubled past I extend my sincere thoughts and deep sympathy,” she said. “With the benefit of historical hindsight we can all see things which we would wish had been done differently or not at all.”

The words had a particular poignancy since Lord Mountbatten, her husband’s uncle, was killed in an Irish Republican Army bombing while sailing off the west coast of Ireland in 1979.

Elizabeth prefaced her address with a greeting in Gaelic, prompting the Irish president, Mary McAleese, sitting at her side, to mouth the word “wow” in appreciation of the gesture. The Irish language was once outlawed under British rule.

The queen’s words were repeated in television coverage in both countries as an attempt to open a new chapter in a modern history dominated by Ireland’s struggle for independence..

Later on Thursday, though, the monarch switched away from the heavy symbolism of her visit, the first to Ireland by a reigning British monarch since the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922.

Known for her liking of horses and horse-racing, the queen visited Ireland’s National Stud, which has produced some of the world’s champions.

She planned to return to England on Friday.