President Mary McAleese was conferred with the 22nd honorary degree of her presidency at a special ceremony at the University of Edinburgh on Saturday.
Mrs McAleese, former Scottish high court judge Lord Gill, and South African human rights campaigner and judge Albi Sachs, each received an honorary Doctor of Law.
The ceremony, to mark the 300th anniversary of the university's school of law, took place in the imposing setting of the college's graduation hall. Its domed ceiling bears the inscription: "Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting, get understanding. Exalt her and she shall bring thee to honour."
Prof Vicki Bruce, head of the university's college of humanities and social sciences, said the President was a "voice of reform and reason, seeking educated and enlightened contemporary solutions to problems that go back many generations".
Mrs McAleese was passionate about justice and social inclusion, she said.
As they were called for conferring, the university's vice-chancellor, Prof Tim O'Shea, tipped each graduand on the head with a cap, which popular legend has it was made with cloth from the breeches of John Knox, the 16th century religious reformer.
Mrs McAleese said that, in both Ireland and Scotland, "we are watching the unfolding genius of the best educated and most liberated, most peaceful generations ever in our respective histories as they build the best Ireland, the best Scotland".
The genius of these generations had one key word: "education - third-level education".
Mrs McAleese also paid tribute to Justice Sachs, whom she described as a childhood hero. He campaigned against apartheid and lost an arm and the sight of one eye when he was injured in a car bomb planted by South African security agents.