Hillary Clinton said she was "ready to come out of the woods" and help Americans find common ground.

Mrs Clinton's gradual return to the public spotlight following her presidential election loss continued with a St. Patrick's Day speech in her late father's Pennsylvania hometown.

"I'm like a lot of my friends right now, I have a hard time watching the news," Mrs Clinton told an Irish women's group.

But she urged a divided country to work together to solve problems, recalling how, as first lady, she met with female leaders working to bring peace to Northern Ireland.

"What can we do to try to bring people together and to try to find that common ground, even higher ground, sister, so that we listen to each other again and we know that we can make a difference? I'm not sure it will come out of Washington yet, but I think it can come out of Scranton. Let's find ways to do that," she told the Society of Irish Women.