Ireland scored six tries as they demolished a poor Italy outfit at the Aviva Stadium to stay on course for a Guinness Six Nations championship.
It was a case of job done for Andy Farrell's men but it was far from perfect as they recorded a record tenth straight championship victory.
Having made six changes to the side that opened the campaign with a win in France, Ireland played well in patches without delivering the consistency that Farrell would have craved in advance.
However, they were never seriously threatened by a limited Azzurri side who only got inside the Irish 22 twice in the whole match.
First-half tries from Jack Crowley, Dan Sheehan and Jack Conan had Ireland ahead 19-0 at the break and Sheehan, player of the match James Lowe and Calvin Nash dotted down in the second half to complete the rout.
Ireland sit top of the table on 10 points after two rounds, two ahead of England.
Two moments of quality lit up an otherwise drab first half that stuttered along in front of a notably quiet crowd on a sunny afternoon in Dublin 4.
Paolo Garbisi had screwed an early penalty wide before the crowd had something to cheer about.
Ireland's first try was built in Leinster and finished in Munster. Hugo Keenan tapped a mark quickly in his own 22 and set off leaving a handful of Italy players in his wake.
Fine running lines saw Robbie Henshaw twice punch holes in the Azzurri defence and Ireland took full advantage.
At the end of 13 phases, Craig Casey, Nash and Crowley combined to send the out-half over for his first try in green in the seventh minute.
However, a poor connection meant the try went unconverted.
That flurry of action suggested that the crowd were in for a treat, but instead Gonzalo Quesada's men kept Ireland scoreless and frustrated for the next 17 minutes.
In that period Lowe knocked on close to the line and the team conceded a penalty and a free kick. The hosts kicked loosely and while Italy had possession it was mostly outside the Irish 22 with Joe McCarthy getting his claws on Garbisi more than once.
It may have been a case of Italy dragging Ireland down to their level and despite dominating scrum and lineout, Ireland looked flat.
After winning a free-kick off a scrum put-in, the defending champions opted to scrum again instead of moving the ball quickly.
But when Crowley set Keenan free in midfield, Ireland were on their way to a second try and good hands by the out-half, Henshaw and McCloskey sent Sheehan over, the hooker almost getting held up by Ange Capuozzo (below).
Crowley converted but Ireland proceeded to concede two penalties from which Italy could do little, Capuozzo’s midfield break that was stopped by Casey was as close as they came to the 22.
The reigning champions kicked to the corner from another scrum penalty with three minutes left on the clock and Conan barged his way over after a couple of forwards tried their luck.
The hosts could have forged another chance late on when Ryan Baird, who had a fine outing, made a trademark run off a Doris pop pass but Casey kicked the ball at the first breakdown and Italy made it in 19-0 down at the break.
The lacklustre approach was present again after the resumption with two Ireland kicks overcooked and another couple penalties conceded.
But the inevitable bonus point try arrived 10 minutes in when Sheehan (above) was again the beneficiary of a powerful lineout maul that Italy could do nothing to stop.
They almost had a sixth minutes later when Keenan latched on to Casey's chip kick in midfield and Ireland put together 23 phases before Henshaw crawled over. However referee Luke Pearce was alerted to a double movement and Italy escaped.
The men in green refreshed the front row and Harry Byrne came on for Keenan, who shipped a heavy tackle and limped off.
But Italy were soon reduced to 14 when Tommaso Menoncello tripped Lowe after the Kiwi native intercepted out wide.
A knock on in midfield stopped another Irish attack but a few plays later Lowe (above) took the ball on the Italy 22 and showed super pace to cut inside two defenders and then incredible strength to power his way to the line for this 13th Irish try.
Again, the score went unconverted but Ireland led 29-0 with 18 minutes to play.
On 70 minutes the crowd began to depart and those that did missed Nash going over for a try in the corner after Jamison Gibson-Park, McCloskey and Crowley paved the way for the Munster wing.
Byrne nailed the sideline conversion to seal a comfortable victory.
Wales come to the Aviva Stadium in two weeks’ time.
Ireland: Hugo Keenan; Calvin Nash, Robbie Henshaw, Stuart McCloskey, James Lowe; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Finlay Bealham; Joe McCarthy, James Ryan; Ryan Baird, Caelan Doris (captain), Jack Conan.
Replacements: Rónan Kelleher, Jeremy Loughman, Tom O'Toole, Iain Henderson, Josh van der Flier, Jamison Gibson-Park, Harry Byrne, Jordan Larmour.
Italy: Ange Capuozzo; Lorenzo Pani, Juan Ignacio Brex, Tommaso Menoncello, Monty Ioene; Paolo Garbisi, Stephen Varney; Danilo Fischetti, Gianmarco Lucchesi, Pietro Ceccarelli; Niccolo Cannone, Federico Ruzza; Alessandro Izekor, Manuel Zuliani, Michele Lamaro (captain).
Replacements: Giacomo Nicotera, Mirco Spagnolo, Giosue Zilocchi, Andrea Zambonin, Ross Vintcent, Martin Page-Relo, Tomasso Allan, Federico Mori.
Referee: Luke Pearce (RFU)
