For just over an hour, there was hope of a title, but a clinical French performance saw that hope quenched.
The Aviva Stadium remained open for fans who wished to stay and watch the final game of this year's Guinness Six Nations, with the potential for a trophy presentation under moonlight in Dublin 4.
There were to be no extra celebrations though, France were 25-13 winners against England in a game they never looked like losing, as Ireland had to settle for second place in the table and the consolation prize of a Triple Crown.
There will naturally be disappointment at missing out on the title, but the final report card on Ireland's campaign will be positive overall, with plenty of scope for improvement.
They won four games out of five, and all four of those with bonus points, while their sole defeat away to the eventual champions France saw them score three tries, and finish with a losing bonus point.
Their final game, a 26-5 win against a Scotland, was at times scrappy, with Ireland starting slowly before eventually proving themselves superior.
"Obviously delighted to get the bonus point win and I thought Scotland play as they always do," said head coach Andy Farrell afterwards.
"They are very hard to shake off. They played a very physical game as far as their defence is concerned with the two in the tackle and they stayed tough in the breakdown and were able to get numbers off feet and it was tough to break them down.
"It was a proper Test match because they brought their own intensity to it but we ground out a brilliant win in the end."
While Ireland had control of the game from the moment Dan Sheehan scored the opening try on 16 minutes, they played error-strewn rugby at times, albeit errors that were arising from taking risks.
Their final try from Conor Murray on 78 minutes sealed the bonus point after it looked like Ireland would have to settle with a 16-point victory.
"We have shown that we can play some really good rugby and scored quite a few tries but we have also shown in the last few weeks that we have got some grit and some nerve to stay calm and take the game right to the death and get the bonus-point win.
"Disappointed not to be in with a chance of winning a Grand Slam but we dusted ourselves off after the disappointment in Paris and got back on the horse and that's all you can ask for. Three bonus-point wins on the trot is some achievement," he added.
Ireland captain Johnny Sexton admitted their performance lacked the fluidity of their earlier displays in the championship, but was keen to stress the positives of another relatively comfortable victory.
"I don’t think we played our best rugby but they make life very tough.
"Their defence is probably the best organised defence we have faced. A lot of guys in the front line, a lot of guys at the breakdown and at times we didn’t exploit it as well as we could, and at other times we showed some great things and then gave the ball away quite easily at times a few yards out from the try line."
He added: "It’s a good place to be, isn’t it? Three bonus-point wins in a row after bouncing back from the loss in Paris and to do that I am very proud of this team and everyone on it.
"It is a good place to be because there is so much more in us. We have to keep driving it home.
"We will enjoy tonight but we have the biggest test in rugby now with a lot of games down in New Zealand so we will have to be a lot better in the next year-and-a-half and that’s what all our focus is on."
The Ireland captain also admitted to feeling more nervous than usual this week, as the prospect of claiming silverware became real.
"I think because this team means so much to me, genuinely.
"I wanted us to have something to show for all our hard work over the last few weeks. It’s an incredible environment.
"It was more for the squad. That was it. I was nervous. I wanted us to play our best.
"We didn’t quite get there but we did good things at times and we showed guts and showed everyone in the stadium what it means to us to play for Ireland. That’s the most important thing," the out-half added.
