Munster gave departing coach Alan Gaffney a winning send-off as they won the Celtic Cup, beating Llanelli Scarlets 27-16 at Lansdowne Road.
Gaffney's men followed in the footsteps of Ulster as they overcame last year's Celtic League winners by three tries to one.
Fit-again fly-half Ronan O'Gara, who will link up with the Lions on Tuesday, was central to Munster's feisty start.
Gareth Jenkins' Scarlets fashioned a comeback as scrum-half Mike Phillips crossed on the half-hour and young fly-half Ceiron Thomas sent over two penalties on the restart.
The 21-year-old's fourth successful kick nearing the hour cut what was a 20-10 deficit at the interval down to 20-16. Munster centre Mike Mullins then went through on a midfield snipe after 74 minutes to cross and start the red-shirted celebrations.
Aided by the wind, Munster gained a match-winning head start in the opening quarter as both Anthony Horgan and 17-point hero O'Gara touched down in the left corner.
Mullins seared through the Welsh cover to lay the foundation for Munster's opening hit after five minutes.
With ruck possession secured, O'Gara fed a skip pass to Horgan on the left flank, and the wide man had enough power and pace to scorch past both Garan Evans and Barry Davies to score from 25 metres out.
O'Gara kicked the conversion superbly over and although Scarlets newcomer Thomas - only earning his third cap as a professional - clipped over a quick 30-metre penalty reply, punishing Shaun Payne for a check on Aisea Havili, Munster pulled 14-3 in front after 19 minutes.
A snappy drive saw 2001 Lion David Wallace shuttle up close to the Welsh region's line, and O'Gara darted over on second phase ball as he picked a line off leaden-footed Scarlets prop Phil John.
The Six Nations top scorer converted, yet Jenkins' men gradually played their way back into contention. The 21-year-old Thomas began to link well with Phillips, a late replacement for injured Lions scrum-half Dwayne Peel (neck), and the latter nabbed a deserved Scarlets try on 29 minutes.
The Scarlets' first decent line-out possession saw their backline go through the hands. Despite top-scoring Tongan Aisea Havili being held up, Phillips was on hand to beat Stringer from the resultant ruck.
Thomas' cracking conversion left four between the sides, and all to play for. O'Gara though, in his first outing in Munster red since damaging his right knee ligaments against the Dragons in March, had other ideas - dinking over a late penalty and drop goal for a 20-10 half-time buffer.
Try as they might, on the back of two Thomas successes on 43 and 59 minutes, Jenkins' side could not turn a 65% share of second-half possession into a crucial try.
O'Gara had a chance to stretch Munster further in front but he shot against an upright from 30 metres out.
It was left to Mullins to secure Gaffney's second title in his three years with Munster, as he crashed through the double challenge of Matthew Watkins and substitute Salesi Finau for the clinching try.
