The event, in Christ Church Cathedral, featured a debate on the Rising.
It included contributions from historians from across Ireland and focused on "ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances".
Mrs Foster shook hands with and sat beside Taoiseach (prime minister) Enda Kenny during the debate.
Last month, she said she would not attend any centenary commemorations of the "very violent" Irish rebellion.
Mr Kenny had expressed disappointment at her stance.
However, Mrs Foster said Wednesday's event was "not a commemoration" but a "more considered discussion" about 1916.
At the event, which was organised by the Church of Ireland Historical Centenaries Working Group, she explained why she would not attend 1916 commemorations.
"One of the things I think that concerns people in Northern Ireland about what happened here 100 years ago at Easter, is the fact that it was used then in the 70s and 80s to justify what happened in Northern Ireland at that particular time.
"I think that's a very difficult thing for a lot of unionists to come to terms with.
"It's something that I think people here in the Republic of Ireland have to reflect on as well."
The rising was a short and ill-fated republican rebellion against British rule in Ireland.
It lasted just one week - from 24 April (Easter Monday) to 30 April 1916 - but despite its military failure it is seen by many historians as a significant stepping-stone in the partition of the island and the eventual creation of the Republic of Ireland.
First Minister Arlene Foster has attended a Church of Ireland event in Dublin this evening to mark the centenary of the Easter Rising.