The late 19th century were the glory days for Irish tennis. Joshua Pim, Lena Rice, Harold Mahony, these guys need no introduction.
And while none of these people were in the GPO in 1916, they did nonetheless win Wimbledon under the Irish flag. Which in those days greatly resembled the British flag.
Those who followed Conor Niland in that dramatic first round match with Adrian Mannarino in 2011 caught a flavour of what it would be like if the Irish flourished at Wimbledon.
If an Irishman or woman does the impossible then here's how it'll go down.
1. There would be a big controversy over him or her saluting/curtsying before the Royal Box
In the wake of the salute, a hardcore Republican on twitter will announce that he's 'not supporting that West Brit. I hope the Czech lad wins now'.
2. The Speech - 'It's been 119 long years...'
When Sue Barker thrusts forward with the microphone, non-tennis loving Irish nationalists will be hoping the man or women of the hour grabs the microphone off her and begins with an earnest salvo 'It's been 119 long years since the Wimbledon championships came back to Ireland (referencing Harold Mahony's Wimbledon victory of 1896) .... we'll have some night tonight'.
3. Ewan McKenna will write an article suggesting that, if we're being honest with ourselves, the competition was poor this year
Not taking anything away, but tennis is entering a dip. Federer is virtually finished as a regular contender and the cracks are starting to appear in Nadal's game. We saw what happened to Djokovic last month.
4. Fintan O'Toole will write an article saying that an Irishman or woman winning Wimbledon will represent a further reconciliation between Britain and Ireland
For an Irishman to triumph in one of the most quintessentially English of sports is a sign of our increasing maturity as a nation.
5. The Irish winner of Wimbledon will quickly become a close personal friend of Niall Horan of One Direction
They'll play charity doubles matches together. It'll be great craic.
