Gardai have turned back cars who tried to travel over 12km because shopping queues in a closer town were "too long".
Motorists were looking to drive from Newbridge to Naas in Co Kildare.
However, they were turned back by officers at a checkpoint in the town on Wednesday, as their journey was not essential.
And gardai have reminded the public that this is not a valid reason for travelling further than 2km, as per the current Government regulations.
A garda spokesman wrote on Twitter: "An Operation Fanacht checkpoint was setup in Newbridge yesterday. A number of cars were turned back.
"Wanting to go to the shops in Naas because the queues in Newbridge are too long is not a valid reason to travel outside the 2km zone."
It comes after it was announced on Wednesday that anyone caught travelling more than 2km from their home over Easter will be told: Turn around and go home.
In a bid to stop the spread of the deadly coronavirus, Gardai are now setting up thousands of road checkpoints across the country.
Commissioner Drew Harris said they had new powers to restrict people’s movements – and were prepared to stop any race to the beaches in the holiday sunshine.
Even the Easter Bunny will fall foul of the tough regulations – the top garda said delivering Easter eggs was not an essential journey.
He said: “To combat the spread of Covid-19, there will be fixed checkpoints in place.
“Only move if you have essential reasons for doing so prescribed within regulations.
“If your journey is not essential, you’ll be asked to return to your home address.
“If you’re at your holiday home now, stay there, that is now your place of residence.
“But if you are thinking about taking a journey to your holiday home from now on, it’s not an essential journey and we will be able to turn you back.”
He added: “Visiting family members if there’s a critical need is essential but delivering Easter eggs is not a critical need.
Checkpoints began at noon on Wednesday under Operation Fanacht and will continue until midnight on Easter Sunday. Around 2,500 gardai are involved.
Officers now have the power to issue fines for breaches, break up house parties, and detain people who refuse to self-isolate.
Penalties include fines of up to €2,500 and up to six months in prison – but gardai say they will only be used as a last resort.
The Commissioner that it wasn’t the force’s intention to hand out on-the-spot fines to drivers and cyclists.
