It is difficult to make cross country trips in Ireland that don't involve Dublin in some way, as the road network is radial. Two very useful and complementary routes forming an X would involve a northeast-southwest dual carriageway, and a northwest-southeast route.
The longest section of this route is the Ardee-Nenagh northeast-southwest part, which allows movement between Belfast, Newry and Dundalk down to Limerick and Shannon without passing through Dublin. Along the way, the road skirts past Kells, with the eponymous book, Mullingar, Tullamore, the very chilly Birr and Nenagh.
The northwest of this X would only be single carriageway and is already slated to be improved to the required standard in the near future. This section winds its way from Boyle on the N4 down to the M6 at Athlone. Following the M6 for several kilometres, then dipping down to Tullamore, the N80 dual carriageway would start southeast of the town and continue to the southeast of the island, passing Carlow and the M9, before finishing up at Enniscorthy and the N11 HQDC.
The two of these projects are so long (around 160 and 110 kilometres) that their construction is probably 10-20 years off and would need to be part of strategic investment in the midlands.
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