As the president's light in Aras an Uachtarain was switched off yesterday, the more powerful watch of Loop Head lighthouse was turned on in a symbolic reaffirmation of her ideals.
There were no brass bands, no organised pomp and ceremony to mark the passing of the people's president. Instead a rainbow arched over the white-capped Atlantic as ordinary people from Clare and elsewhere gathered on the stormy headland overlooking the mouth of the Shannon.
They included housewives and farmers, Quakers from Limerick, a Fianna Fail councillor and a Catholic priest. They came to celebrate the values of inclusiveness and tolerance which were the hallmarks of Mrs Robinson's tenure.
Mrs Robinson's brother-in-law, Mr Andrew Robinson, and his wife, Jennifer, watched as the presidential standard was lowered and the United Nations flag raised.
Afterwards, schoolchildren from Ennis, Mullach and Kilmihil danced a joyous St John's set. Ms Marian Casey from Ennis danced an old dance from the 17th century called "Priest in his Boots".
Earlier, the schoolchildren - including four girls dressed in the Clare colours - threw green boughs to the wind, opening their arms upwards and outwards in a gesture that recalled the native American gesture of affirmation. The lighthouse keeper, Mr Tom McInerney, unveiled a commemorative sculpture by a Kilnamona artist, Michael McTigue. Carved out of four tonnes of local limestone, it depicts a woman's outstretched hand and the outline of a candle with rays of light emanating from it.
Ms Mary McMahon, from Scarriff in east Clare, said the event was "a ceremony of connection" in homage to Mrs Robinson. Addressing the former president directly in her speech, Ms McMahon said: "In your inaugural address on December 3rd, 1990, you said to us that we had chosen you to represent us, and that you were humbled by our trust.
"You have honoured our trust in ways that have been so imaginative, creative and inclusive, and that are beyond our wildest dreams. "We have made a great journey of joy and of exploration in you and in ourselves. Our journey together is a celebration of the fifth province of which you speak. The place within us which is open to others, to healing and to reconciliation.
"Today we include in our ceremony over 70 million living on this globe who claim Irish descent. We thank you for this. We have celebrated in you the example of inclusiveness, of our local and regional communities who are determined to express their own creative energy, heritage and initiative in individual and exciting ways."