For more than 100 years, the thought of beating the All Blacks was fanciful. In the last nine months it has started to feel normal.
If it seemed possible that Ireland would win a Test series in New Zealand this summer, it didn't seem possible they would do it like this.
When it mattered most, they played their very best rugby. They were merciless and callous when they had the ball in the opening half, scoring three first-half tries in a first 40 minutes which was built on patient, composed defence.
The second half was about grit. When the New Zealand onslaught arrived, it was like the days of old. Ireland were torn to shreds early in the second half, but continued to patch themselves together.
Every time they took a blow, they threw one back.
Tadhg Beirne was possessed, the pick of an incredible team display. As one of last week's key players, he moved to a different level in Wellington, forcing three turnovers in his own 22 in the final 10 minutes of the game, three interventions that you can pin this win on.
Johnny Sexton picked the perfect night to hit a personal milestone of 1,000 Test points. This was his fifth time beating the All Blacks, along with Tadhg Furlong, Cian Healy and Joey Carbery, the latter of whom produced a vital interception in the final five minutes of the game.
There were countless impressive displays though. Josh van der Flier, Hugo Keenan and Robbie Henshaw's first half tries had Ireland 19 points ahead by the break, but the key score was Rob Herring's, the Ulster hooker touching down the fourth try, just as New Zealand had closed to within three of the lead.
This series hadn't been designed for Irish success, with a first Test at fortress Eden Park, and two midweek games against the Maori. To win the final three games after dropping the first two just makes the achievement even greater.
The win also moved Ireland above France to the top of the world rankings, but that's a distant second prize.
Comparisons will be made about the size of their achievement, and how it ranks with Six Nations titles, or Grand Slams, or even World Cup semi-finals.
But a series win against the All Blacks has to be taken on its merit. It's 28 years since they were beaten in a series on home soil. It's just the third time in their history they've lost a three-Test series in New Zealand.
If there's been an unofficial motto across the three Tests it's been to start hot and stay cool.
For the third week in a row, Ireland unleashed themselves from the blocks, and were on the board inside four minutes.
It started with neat play from Caelan Doris, Robbie Henshaw and Peter O'Mahony, and having won a penalty for a Sam Cane tackle off the ball, Sexton made a statement by turning down a shot at goal in favour of a chance at the try.
It proved to be the right call. Sheehan found Ryan at the lineout, before Ireland's maul got to work from 10 metres out, Van der Flier the man at the back who touched down to score.
Sexton's conversion pulled to the left as Ireland led 5-0, and while New Zealand enjoyed sustained possession across the next few minutes, there were signs that they were feeling the heat. Beirne stole a lineout on half way, while in the 10th minute Jordie Barrett's penalty kick at goal was sliced wide.
They were making mistakes, but they were testing Ireland's mettle, particularly through their kicking. Both Jordie and Beauden Barrett kept pressure on Ireland's backfield, on each occasion Hugo Keenan stayed cool.
On 18 minutes, it looked like James Lowe had flipped the pressure when his beautiful kick down the touchline seemed to bounce out for a 50:22. It wasn't given, but the Irish pack took matters into their own hands, holding up the New Zealand maul to force a turnover, thanks in no small part to the relentless O'Mahony.
Moments later it was New Zealand's turn to expose an empty backfield, David Havili's kick into space was judged perfectly, and this time there was no doubt about the 50:22.
It led to their first points of the game, Sexton penalised for not rolling away, giving Jordie Barrett a simple tap-over penalty to make it 5-3.
It was playing much different to the opening two games of the series, where Ireland had dominated the first 30 minutes. This week, they had to stay patient and soak up the New Zealand possession, before picking their moments.
They were picking those moments well. This time Van der Flier pounced on a ruck in the Irish 22 to win a penalty and a chance to clear the lines, and it was the foundation on which Ireland built a wonderful second try.
Having brought play up to half way they won a penalty advantage off the lineout, and used their free attacking shot to perfection. After a pair of Aki carries forced them up towards the final third of the pitch, the found themselves in a 3v3 situation down the blindside, which they executed ruthlessly.
Mack Hansen made the initial dart before skip-passing to Lowe, who drew in the last man before slipping the ball back into Keenan, who sprinted through to dive over and score.
This time, Sexton's conversion crept inside the posts, while just a couple of minutes later he added a penalty from long range to make it 15-3, after Beauden Barrett had been penalised for clearing out beyond the ruck.
They were doing to New Zealand what New Zealand had been doing to Ireland for years; pouncing on any and all mistakes, and playing ruthless, efficient rugby. And they weren't finished.
On 37 minutes they struck for try number three, a cold-blooded score that seemed inevitable from the moment Nepo Laulala was forced into a knock-on in his own 22.
After securing scrum ball and running a couple of phases, a dainty draw back from Sheehan to Sexton put Aki through a chasm in the centre of New Zealand's defence. From there, he just had to slip it outside to Henshaw, who coasted over to score.
The conversion made it 22-3, and with it brought Sexton over the 1,000 points mark for Ireland and the Lions, one of Ireland's greatest appropriately hitting the milestone on what was turning into one of Irish rugby's greatest days.
The hosts needed a response, and started the second half like it was the final 40 minutes of their lives. Twenty four phases, and almost every one of them with the intensity of a bullet train, ended with Ardie Savea wriggling his way over to score, before Barrett's conversion made it 22-10.
It was a stark reminder that beating New Zealand is an 80-minute job rather than a 40-minute one, and with half an hour to play the pressure on Ireland grew even stronger when Porter was set to the bin for a head-high tackle on Brodie Retallick, the Ireland prop spared a red by Wayne Barnes' assessment that he "absorbed" the tackle rather than initiating it.
For the first time, the All Blacks were looking like the All Blacks. Within two minutes of Porter being sent to the sin-bin, they steamrolled over for a second try, this time Akira Ioane slipping off a poor Sheehan tackle, and then powering over Hansen to cross the line.
At 22-17 and with 25 minutes to go, it was suddenly anybody's game to win. It was hard not to have flashbacks to the Aviva Stadium and 2013.
Having hit Ireland for 14 points early in the half, the hosts handed three back shortly after when Sam Cane was penalised in front of the posts for not rolling away, and Sexton milked every second before tapping it between the sticks to make it a two-score game at 25-17.
Two minutes later, the Irish captain called for his tee once again after Beirne claimed a huge penalty on the halfway line. With the seconds on Porter's sin-bin ticking away, it was a no-brainer to shoot for goal, and it very nearly snuck over, bouncing back off the crossbar.
Ireland were slowing the game down to a crawl, but then Will Jordan decided to sprint.
There seemed to be no real danger when New Zealand were in possession in their own 22, but when Savea slipped a pass back inside to his winger, Jordan's angled run took him away from Doris and into clear space, before he outpaced Sexton to the line for a third All Blacks try.
Much to the relief of Ireland, Barrett's conversion was millimetres wide, as Ireland led 25-22 with Porter returning to the field.
Now it was Ireland's turn to respond. When Aki carried hard and the All Blacks strayed offside, it gave the tourists a penalty just out from the tryline. It was a brave call to choose the corner rather than the posts, but it was also the correct call.
Another well executed lineout, and another well executed maul, this time Herring was the man at the back who broke at just the right moment to touch down, Sexton coolly adding the conversion to give Ireland a 10-point lead at 32-22 with just 15 minutes to play.
The sides were trading blow for blow by now, with eyes darting back and forth between each 22.
Every phase felt crucial, and when the All Blacks had a scrum just a few metres from the visitors' line on 70 minutes, the Irish pack came up with a huge turnover. Winning the nudge at the scrum, they put Folau Fakatava under enormous pressure to force him backwards, before a neck roll on Beirne gave Ireland a huge penalty, and a chance to move play back into safer territory.
The Munster man's performance in those championship minutes were ultimately the winning of the game. Twice more he forced turnovers in his own 22 in the minutes that followed, and after the third of those, New Zealand looked a beaten docket.
Ireland had spent the previous 30 minutes looking for the ball, but as the final minutes ticked down, they had the luxury of skipping around the ring, with the final four minutes played deep in the New Zealand half.
As the final scrum set, Peter O'Mahony was on the sideline in floods of tears, before Joey Carbery hoofed the ball into the Wellington sky.
The series was Ireland's.
New Zealand: Jordie Barrett; Will Jordan, Rieki Ioane, David Havili, Sevu Reece; Beauden Barrett, Aaron Smith; George Bower, Codie Taylor, Nepo Laulala; Brodie Retallick, Samuel Whitelock; Akira Ioane, Sam Cane (capt), Ardie Savea.
Replacements: Dane Coles, Karl Tu'inukuafe, Ofa Tu'ungafasi, Tupou Vaa'i, Dalton Papalii, Folau Fakatava, Richie Mo'unga, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck.
Ireland: Hugo Keenan; Mack Hansen, Bundee Aki, Robbie Henshaw, James Lowe; Johnny Sexton (capt), Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong; Tadhg Beirne, James Ryan; Peter O'Mahony, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris.
Replacements: Rob Herring, Cian Healy, Finlay Bealham, Kieran Treadwell, Jack Conan, Conor Murray, Joey Carbery, Keith Earls.
Referee: Wayne Barnes (RFU)
