Ireland gave CJ Stander the send-off they hoped for and the performance Andy Farrell has been waiting for since taking the helm 13 months ago.
The fear was that Stander's retirement announcement this week, with leaders such as Johnny Sexton and Peter O'Mahony expressing their shock on Tuesday, would affect Farrell's squad.
If it did, it only acted to inspire his team-mates and, after a scrappy first 10 minutes, they fully deserved their first win against England in five attempts, going back to the Grand Slam clincher on St Patrick's Day in 2018.
At the final whistle, Stander smiled broadly as team-mates and opponents lined up to wish him well, though he has business to finish with Munster, starting next Saturday in the PRO14 final against Leinster.
Farrell had claimed that his players had learned the lessons of the two subsequent defeats Ireland had suffered on his watch against the Red Rose, and here was the evidence ,despite the Ireland head coach making six personnel and three positional changes from the win over Scotland six days earlier.
Two superbly orchestrated first half tries left Eddie Jones' men reeling and, while there was nothing on the line in terms of silverware after the opening defeats to Wales and France, credit where it's due to an Ireland set-up that recovered to win the final three games of this Six Nations.
This was a championship topped and tailed with a red card for the men in green.
But while O'Mahony's dismissal in Cardiff on February 7 left Ireland down a man for almost an hour, this time they were practically out of sight by the time Bundee Aki was sent off by Mathieu Raynal in the 64th minute.
The home side led by 20 points by that stage, which was largely down to the best half of attacking rugby they have shown in Farrell's 14 games in charge, but also due to a strong third quarter, something that had been missing in previous fixtures.
England sensed a potential lifeline when Aki's robust tackle on Billy Vunipola was deemed a high one.
The sight of Ben Youngs racing over in the corner had the effect of heightening anxiety for Ireland fans watching at home.
But then Ireland shut the door, with Johnny Sexton splitting the posts with two penalties to keep his team well out of sight and Jonny May's converted 79th try was nothing but a consolation.
Ireland finished the game with 13 men as Conor Murray was yellow carded just before that try, but there was no coming back for the visitors.
Both sides were forced into late personnel changes beforehand.
In Ireland's case it was a switch on the bench with Ulster out-half Billy Burns' injury giving Ross Byrne of Leinster the chance to provide cover for Sexton.
But Eddie Jones lost full-back Max Malins, so Elliot Daly reverted to his usual berth from the centre role he has been selected for, and Ollie Lawrence was called into the midfield.
In keeping with Ireland's win at Murrayfield last week, there was a chaotic start to this contest with blockdowns, deflections and knock-ons galore in the opening minutes.
The hosts were also run into touch twice and, off four early England line-outs, Ireland weren't given a sniff. However, the Red Rose also conceded a free off Ireland's first.
The game's first meaningful moment saw Maro Itoje pilfer a turnover penalty off Tadhg Furlong, who for the second time in the opening stages met a white brick wall as he tried to make some yards.
Daly kicked into Ireland's 22 and Ireland's attempt to engage early off England's line-out maul was penalised by Raynal. Owen Farrell took the three points on offer from 30 metres out.
It quickly could have got worse for Ireland. George Ford spotted space in behind Jacob Stockdale and the Ulsterman, in his first appearance of the championship, was wrapped up by Anthony Watson.
Farrell kicked to the corner but, off the lineout maul, Itoje was just about held up on Ireland's line and Dave Kilcoyne dominated Kyle Sinclair in the ensuing scrum, earning his side a timely penalty.
That turned into some momentum when Henshaw's choke tackle on Ford earned his team another penalty - and when Henshaw pounced on Daly as he fielded Sexton's high ball on the edge of England's 22, Raynal awarded the home side a penalty that Sexton fired over in the 17th minute.
Still, it took Aki to rescue Murray under his own posts when Ford's Garryowen was misjudged by the recalled scrum-half, and Aki did brilliantly to field the ball over Farrell and hold on for the cavalry.
Ireland lost Kilcoyne to a head injury and had to bring Cian Healy into the fray with only 20 minutes on the clock, but they were ahead within 90 seconds.
And Farrell and Paul O'Connell will be delighted that a set-piece move off the training ground worked a treat.
Rob Herring's line-out throw over the back was batted perfectly into Earls' path by Jack Conan, who just got there ahead of Tom Curry.
The 33-year-old was away from Vunipola like a greyhound out of the traps before superbly changing direction to leave May in his wake and to touch down for his 34th Ireland try in 93 appearances.
Sexton landed the tough conversion and while Farrell pulled the lead back to 10-6 with a 27th minute penalty, another Sinkler scrum penalty concession allowed Sexton to restore the seven point advantage on the half hour.
The sight of Ford throwing a pass intended for Watson into touch signified that England were rocking and, lo and behold, Ireland added a second try before the break as they exhibited control and ambition.
Staying patient, the hosts made the hard yards to halfway inside the England half and, after 16 phases, Sexton launched a high kick towards the right wing.
Daly got his hands on it, but Hugo Keenan's massive leap saw him wrench away possession and, as Ireland recycled quickly, there was space on the left.
Sexton spotted a gap and almost got through it but Conan was there to spring over Luke Cowan-Dickie and successfully stretched over the line, with Sexton making it 20-6.
The England players gathered after the half-time whistle for a pitch huddle before heading down the tunnel for the first half autopsy.
Poor third quarters in games have been a feature of Ireland's championship and England were almost immediately handed a platform to start reeling in their rivals when Daly won a penalty off Earls under the high ball.
However Line-out crossing by the visitors handed Ireland an easy out in their own 22 - and then they were unfortunate not to add to their advantage in the 49th minute.
The forwards did a great job of trucking the ball deep into enemy territory before Sexton's delicate cross-kick as he was about to be hit was touched down for the try by Earls.
Just as Sexton lined up the conversion, however, Raynal ruled it out as Iain Henderson had knocked on earlier in the move, despite the efforts of himself and Healy to knock the ball backwards.
Still, Ireland had been playing with a penalty advantage and Sexton gave his side extra breathing space.
More was to follow on the hour with a scrum penalty that was joyously celebrated by Furlong and the veteran out-half made it 26-6.
Aki's red card and Youngs' try could have made it a difficult last 17 minutes for the home side, but Daly missed the difficult conversion.
Sexton tacked on two more penalties as Ireland kept coming but under pressure in the final minutes, Murray was sent to the sin bin and his side were down to 13, leaving plenty of space on the left for May to score and Daly to add the extras, to no avail.
