Glendalough is the obvious first stop and still earns it: park at the Upper Lake car park, walk twenty minutes past the monastic ruins, and you have grass, water and the round tower in view. Go before 10am on summer weekends or after 4pm, because the middle of the day fills up with coach traffic. The visitor centre has toilets and a café if the weather turns, which matters more than any view.
Wicklow: the handiest big-day picnic from Dublin
Better for a quiet lunch is the Wicklow Gap road above Glendalough, or the slopes of Djouce above Lough Tay, an hour's drive from Dublin city centre. Bring everything you need, as facilities are thin. Base yourself in Bray or Greystones for the Dart back to the city, or in Laragh or Roundwood to wake up already in the hills; summer is the only reliable season for eating outside, though September is calmer. The Powerscourt estate near Enniskerry charges for garden entry and has good lawns, but picnics are better on the free ground at Crone Woods.
Connemara and the western lakes
Kylemore Abbey's walls and gardens are worth the entry fee, but the shoreline of Lough Inagh a few kilometres east on the N59 gives you the same mountain backdrop for nothing. Diamond Hill in Connemara National Park has benches near the visitor centre at Letterfrack, toilets and a tea room, and a climb of about an hour to the lower summit if you want the picnic with a view.
Westport is the natural base: it has the widest choice of hotels and guesthouses in the region, and it is roughly an hour's drive to Leenane and Killary Harbour, where you can eat on the grass by the water at Aasleagh Falls. The Great Western Greenway from Westport to Achill is flat and easy and has plenty of stopping points. Skip the crowded Spiddal pier on sunny Sundays and drive on to Dog's Bay near Roundstone instead, though the wind there rarely lets a sandwich stay put.
The Burren and the Clare coast
The Burren rewards a picnic more than a restaurant: limestone pavement, orchids in May, and no crowds once you leave the car park at the Poulnabrone dolmen. Pull in at the Gortlecka crossroads or along the minor road to Carran and eat on flat rock with the whole valley below you. There are no bins, so carry everything out.
On the coast, the Flaggy Shore near New Quay is a short, flat loop with views across Galway Bay, and Lahinch and Spanish Point have promenades and toilets, which makes them the easy choice with children. Ennistymon, Ballyvaughan and Lisdoonvarna all have small hotels and B&Bs within fifteen minutes of these spots; prices are highest in July and August and drop sharply in May and October. If you want one recommendation: stay in Ballyvaughan and picnic at the Flaggy Shore in the early evening, when the light is best and the wind has dropped.
Practical notes before you pack the basket
Irish weather changes faster than any forecast suggests, so bring a groundsheet rather than a blanket, a waterproof layer and something to weigh the corners down. Many beauty spots have no bins or toilets; coastal villages and park visitor centres do. Supermarkets in Westport, Clifden, Ennis and Greystones will make up a lunch, and most towns have a bakery worth using.
For accommodation, book a hotel with parking and a drying room or at least a radiator you can use. Bray, Westport, Clifden, Ballyvaughan and Ennistymon are the sensible bases for the spots above, and all have rooms within walking distance of a pub for the evening. Book two to three weeks ahead in high summer, less in spring and autumn, when the same places are quieter and the midges are fewer.
