PROFESSOR Sir Tom Devine has said his knighthood was a significant moment in the recognition of Scottish historical studies and a coming-of-age for those of a Scots-Irish background.

The country's most prominent historian was among 70 people honoured by the Queen at Holyrood Palace.

Later, Professor Sir Tom said his honour was "a recognition by the British state of the endeavours of an army of historians, graduates, lecturers and professors who have professionalised the excavation of Scotland's past since the 1960s".

He said: "The Scottish people have not had a serious, well-researched narrative of their modern past until very recent times."

Professor Sir Tom also paid tribute to his eight grandchildren, who he said kept him grounded during the writing of his latest book, adding: "They brought me down to earth and I thanked them for that in my speech after dinner."

The acclaimed historian, the grandson of Irish Catholic immigrants to Scotland in the 1890s, also said the knighthood was an honour to where he had come from.

He said: "It was an occasion to remember the background from whence I came. It's not unique for people from a Scots Irish Catholic background to be honoured by the British State but that is also something which has happened in recent times.

"I was the only person today receiving a knighthood and it made me think of the past and how we have moved from there to the present and how people from the Irish immigrant background have come of age."