Watch all of this year's RBS 6 Nations matches live on RTÉ Two and RTÉ.ie. Listen to all of Ireland's matches live on RTÉ Radio 1 FM, MW and LW 252.
Ireland head coach Eddie O'Sullivan admitted criticism of his side's heartbreaking 20-17 RBS 6 Nations defeat by France had stung.
He said: 'We're back in the championship and still in with a shout at Triple Crown.
'We wanted to win our last game at Croke Park this year and bounce back after the sickening way we lost to France.
'The English media calling us chokers after that game also provided motivation, if we needed any more.'
O'Sullivan described the victory - Ireland's fourth in succession against England - as his most prized Six Nations scalp.
He said: 'That was a very good performance. The conditions were very difficult.
'We could easily have gone into our shell and started playing aerial ping pong because it was so wet but we stuck to our gameplan.
'The first 10 or 15 minutes were shadow boxing but once we took control we were pretty ruthless.
'As expected England had their purple patch and got a good try. They asked questions of us and we responded in the way I expected us to.
'I thought it would be closer, particularly in weather like that. England weren't bad, it was more we were good.
'They tried to play but we were clinical and ruthless. I suppose that was our best performance against a Six Nations team.
'To score 40 points in those conditions is pretty good.'
Brian O'Driscoll, who missed the France match with a hamstring strain, revealed there was a steely determination to make sure Ireland marked their first season at Croke Park with a victory.
The Lions skipper said: 'We want show we could bounce back after being disappointed like we were against France.
'We let ourselves down against France by not playing for the full 80 minutes. We felt as though we needed to repay the GAA with a great performance and victory.
'We didn't do that against France which left us with just the one match do it.
'That was one of the more complete performances I've been involved in. Being called chokers by some people also added motivation.'
Meanwhile, England head coach Brian Ashton conceded his side had been ‘stuffed’ in every department of today's defeat by Ireland at Croke Park.
Girvan Dempsey, David Wallace, Shane Horgan and Isaac Boss ran in tries to register Ireland's biggest victory over the ailing world champions.
Ashton said: 'I'm very disappointed. I said how we made mistakes against Scotland and Italy and that we'd need to go up two or three gears if we were to beat Ireland.
'But we didn't do that and were punished by a side that was sharper than we were. They were more physical and fresher.
'We were beaten all over the field, there's no doubt about that. We knew it would be a difficult game but hoped to gain parity or dominance in some areas of the pitch.
'But we were stuffed and we have to take it on the chin. We were outplayed by the better side.
'They were better up front. I thought their forwards played very well.
'They scrummaged better than in previous games and when you have a line-out like theirs you're well on your way.
'They looked a lot more physical than us and they were more physical in the collisions. I didn't see that result coming.
'I don't feel embarrassed or humiliated. I feel there's a lot of work to do, but we already knew that.'
Ireland entered half-time 23-3 ahead but England staged a brief fightback shortly after the interval with debutant David Strettle crossing in the 58th minute.
Jonny Wilkinson converted and added a penalty but Horgan grabbed Ronan O'Gara's crossfield kick and touched down to end the revival.
Ashton said: 'At half-time we knew it was going to be very difficult to get back into the game.
'But we had our best period 15 minutes after half-time, winning ball and keeping it which made life easier for us.
'At that stage it didn't look like we were postponing the inevitable. If we'd sustained that momentum we could have made more of an impact on the game.'
England face France next in a match they must win if they are to have any hope of winning the championship but Ashton ruled out making sweeping changes for Les Bleus.
He said: 'I'm not in the mind to make any big decisions at this stage.
'I'll go back, look at the players available and where we have to get to and which players will take us forward. I still have faith in the squad.'
