Ireland celebrated championship silverware on home soil for the first time in 19 years as they clinched Triple Crown success at Lansdowne Road.
France put paid to Ireland's Grand Slam ambitions in Paris last month but after their Twickenham victory the last piece in the puzzle was to beat Scotland for the fifth year running.
And all eyes will now be on Paris at 8pm this evening, because Ireland will land the Six Nations title if France fail to beat England at the Stade de France.
The scene was set as regular Scots out-half Finn Russell - one of six Scots disciplined for a bar visit last weekend - was demoted to the bench.
And, with Josh van der Flier's try, Ireland sealed the deal on the hour to secure the first trophy of Andy Farrell's reign.
Perhaps nerves played a part as the hosts were on the back foot early on as the Scots found gaps left and right across the pitch.
An unfortunate knock-on in Ireland's 22 killed a promising charge by the visitors.
They were soon back in try-scoring territory through prop Pierre Schoeman's break but, once more, Gregor Townsend's men couldn't convert.
The hosts finally threatened through their scrum-half, Jamison Gibson-Park, whose solo break and chip had Stuart Hogg gathering over his own try-line. Hogg shrugged off the Kiwi's challenge to clear.
A superb 50:22 by Johnny Sexton presented Ireland with a line-out five metres out but van der Flier was held up over the Scots' line.
However Ireland were finding their rhythm and a sweeping move instigated by Tadhg Furlong saw them seize the initiative again.
Sexton kicked a penalty to the corner and hooker Dan Sheehan powered over for the game's first try with 17 minutes on the clock. Sexton added the extras.
The veteran captain needed treatment after he was smashed in the tackle soon after, but he continued and his kick in behind had the Scottish defence in trouble again.
And it was off lineout ball that Ireland scored their second try in the 28th minute, with prop Cian Healy burrowing over on his 116th appearance in green.
The visitors had to find a lifeline and, five minutes from the break, they got it when Schoeman stretched for the line to finish a strong attacking move.
Blair Kinghorn, who replaced Russell, missed the conversion and his side were 14-5 adrift at the break.
Ireland made a thrilling start to the second half but their first couple of forays into the opposition 22 came to nothing.
At the other end, full-back Hugo Keenan pulled off an important try saving tackle by putting Hogg in touch.
But the Scotland skipper had his two centres free inside - a real chance blown.
In keeping with the trend, Ireland failed to convert off two line-outs deep in their rivals' territory.
Then they killed the contest in the 60th minute.
Gibson-Park injected pace into the attack and Ireland fed off that, with the scrum-half passing to van der Flier to power over and Sexton's conversion made it 21-5.
Russell was sent on at outside centre in the last quarter but the loudest roar of the day greeted Conor Murray's 79th minute try after Scotland's Ben White was yellow carded.
While far from perfect, Ireland can look forward to their summer tour of New Zealand with confidence - but for Townsend and the Scots, it is back to the drawing board.
IRELAND: Hugo Keenan (Joey Carbery 74), Mack Hansen, Garry Ringrose, Bundee Aki (Robbie Henshaw 56), James Lowe, Johnny Sexton, Jamison Gibson-Park (Conor Murray 67); Cian Healy (Dave Kilcoyne 52), Dan Sheehan (Rob Herring 63), Tadhg Furlong (Finlay Bealham 68), Tadhg Beirne, Iain Henderson (Kieran Treadwell 63), Caelan Doris, Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan (Peter O'Mahony 52).
SCOTLAND: Stuart Hogg, Darcy Graham, Chris Harris (Finn Russell 67), Sam Johnson (Mark Bennett 61), Kyle Steyn, Blair Kinghorn, Ali Price (Ben White 61); Pierre Schoeman, George Turner (Fraser Brown 52), Zander Fagerson (WP Nel 55), Jonny Gray, Grant Gilchrist (Sam Skinner 52), Rory Darge, Hamish Watson, Matt Fagerson (Josh Bayliss 63).
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