We visited Ireland for two weeks in June 2024. We started in Dublin, before renting a car to drive up to Northern Ireland, and then counterclockwise around the country. We passed through Donegal, Galway, Killarney and the Ring of Kerry, Cork, Cobh, and Kilkenny. I have written separate gluten free posts with places to eat within the major cities we visited, so you can click on the links below for those:
I have included a map at the end of this post of everywhere I found that I considered to be good options. As usual, I did a ton of research ahead of time on where to eat safely. This included reading other bloggers’ posts, looking at Google reviews, using the FindMeGlutenFree app, and looking up menus online. I was only able to check out one 100% gluten free bakery, in Cobh (but it sure was delicious!). As always, make sure to do your own research, ask questions ahead of ordering, and reach out to restaurants ahead of time regarding options and protocols if you need to.
Gluten Free Ireland
Upstairs Downstairs Café (Clifden)
This spot isn’t IN Galway, but rather in nearby Clifden. They can make anything on menu on gluten free bread, but also have a delicious chicken and goat cheese salad. They have a baked good or two available each day – we had gluten free carrot cake that was yummy and a generous piece!
The Buttery (Limerick)
We stopped here on our way out of Galway, on our drive to Killarney. This is a brunch stop that seems super popular. They have a separate gluten free menu. The menus are different for midweek versus weekend. I had eggs Benedict with smashed avocado, and Ahmed had a four-egg omelet with chicken and cheddar cheese. We also had coffee. The food was really good! The portions were very large – we didn’t finish everything.
Bean & Berry (Garrotstown)
Georgetown is a beach area just outside of Kinsale. Bean & Berry has a beautiful view of the water. They have smoothie bowls with gluten free granola, which we had and were yummy. We also had a gluten free brownie which was huge and very moist, and coffee. We would recommend a stop here if you’re in the area.
The Cafe Portmagee (Portmagee)
The Café is in a small village called Portmagee, which is on the Skellig Ring, off the Ring of Kerry. They had allergens marked on they menu along with some items specifically marked gluten free. We had chips (ie fries) and a gluten free raspberry cheesecake, plus coffees. The cheesecake was delicious – not too sweet. The coffee was good.
Maison Gourmet (Kenmare)
You’ll find Maison Gourmet is the town of Kenmare, which is along the Ring of Kerry. They have a gluten free cake most days (they had carrot cake when we went). The items on the menu that can be modified to be gluten free are marked with a yellow circle. We shared avocado toast, and each had coffee. The avocado was fantastic, as were the “cuby fries” that came with the toast. A good stop if you’re in the area.
Priory Coffee (Youghal)
Priory Coffee has 5 locations throughout County Cork. We went to the Youghal location and just had coffee, which was delicious! They do have 3 different gluten free treats, but we didn’t try them. I didn’t catch if they had any lunch options that were gluten free.
Lana Thai (Kilkenny)
This is an Irish chain restaurant that we ate at in multiple cities we visited throughout our trip. On this visit, we had chicken massaman curry and the crispy chicken bites. The curry didn’t have as much flavour as the other locations we have eaten at, and the bites were not good (weird texture, almost like a bad McDonald’s chicken nugget?). Overall, we’d still recommend Lana Thai as an inexpensive option, but might opt to try somewhere else in Kilkenny before eating at this location again.
Tribal Burger (Belfast)
There are two locations. They have gluten free buns and knowledge of which dishes can be made gluten free or not. We both had the tribal burger (mine on a gluten free bun). The bun was huge and had sesame seeds, which worried me at first (when do we ever get sesame seeds?), but it was in fact gluten free. While I liked the bun, the burger patty was pretty dry. We shared skinny fries and a chocolate shake too. Overall, I’d try Tribal Burger again.
Baan Thai (Antrim)
They have gluten free indicated on the menu. There are lots of options! We had the early dinner special, which runs from 5-8pm. We tried sweet and sour Cantonese chicken and Pad Cha for mains. We had one with plain rice and one with stir fried rice. Get the stir fried rice!! For appies we had smoked chicken, and the chilli vegetable stir fry. The chicken was really good. Overall, the food was decent and Baan Thai is a good option if you’re out this way and need somewhere safe to eat.
Roughans Gelato (Portstewart)
We were recommended to stop here by our accommodation – they said it is a “must stop”. Gluten free was noted on certain flavours, and staff were able to tell me which flavours were safe.
Map of Ireland Gluten Free Options
If you want more options, here is the Wanderlog map I made of everywhere I could find that had good gluten free reviews, labelled menus, and/or indications that gluten free was safe at their restaurants. Please note that I did not personally eat at all these restaurants, so do your own due diligence and reach out or check their websites/menus ahead of your visit.
HOW TO USE THE MAP: Click on the Wanderlog logo in the bottom right corner to open the full-size map up in a new tab. There, you can choose to just look at one category at a time or see all the categories on the map at once (click the 3 squares in the top right to choose). You can also export the map to Google Maps, share the map with others, or save the map.
