The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, has led the tributes to Mrs Máirín Lynch, the widow of the late taoiseach Mr Jack Lynch, who died in Dublin on Tuesday at the age of 87.
Mr Ahern, who is in the US, said: "It is only a few short years since she said goodbye to Jack and I recall the dedicated and loving way she cared for him during his illness.
"One of the stories told about Jack and Máirín is that as they went to hand in his nomination papers in 1948, she told him that she was not completely sure about his decision to enter politics.
"He suggested that they toss a coin and the rest is history," said Mr Ahern, who is attending the G8 meeting of leading world economic powers in Sea Island in his role as as president of the European Council. "Whatever her initial misgivings about politics may have been, she was a stalwart during decades of political challenge.
The Taoiseach said Mrs Lynch became a well-known public figure as she accompanied Jack on his official duties.
"Máirín and Jack were inseparable. She was by his side throughout his public career and both of them were wonderful ambassadors for Ireland.Throughout her years in the public eye she became a respected and an admired figure.
"The public memory of Jack and Máirín is one of deep affection. However high the circles in which they moved, their roots remained firmly in their wide circle of family and friends.
"I know that her loss will be especially keenly felt among the people of the city of Cork for whom Máirín and Jack Lynch were held in very deep respect and affection."
The Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny, said he had learnt "with great sadness" of the death of Mrs Lynch. "From meeting her through the years, I know she was a beautiful and gentle person, epitomising loyalty to her late husband Jack Lynch, who, it is fair to say, strode Irish politics as a colossus.
"It can't always have been easy to be constantly at the side of the man, who was, according to Liam Cosgrave, the most popular man in Irish politics since Daniel O'Connell, but Máirín Lynch showed exemplary courage and commitment in supporting her husband in their life together.
"Like her husband, Máirín was a person of great dignity and common sense whose no-nonsense approach to life and to politics stood them, and Ireland, in good stead. Máirín Lynch's passing marks the end of an era of Irish politics where her husband's essential goodness and honesty shone brilliantly in everything he undertook.
"Máirín and Jack Lynch were, in their individual ways proud, devoted servants of the people and of the country. As a nation, that is something we should never forget."
The leader of the Labour Party, Mr Pat Rabbitte, said he too was saddened to hear of Mrs Lynch's passing. "Anyone who knew anything about politics, or who saw them together, could only have been struck by the unique closeness of the relationship between Máirín and Jack.
"Máirín stood loyally by Jack's side through the most difficult of times and was, in her own right, a very influential figure in public life in this country," he said.
Mrs Lynch's removal will take place on Saturday to the Church of the Three Patrons, Rathgar, Dublin, for 12 o'clock Mass, followed by cremation at Mount Jerome, Harold's Cross.
The funeral Mass will take place next Thursday at 12 o'clock in the North Cathedral in Cork city, followed by interment of her ashes at St Finbarr's Cemetery.
