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In short

There are 10 public holidays in Ireland that you'll get on top of a minimum 20 days of annual leave if you work full-time. The exact dates for 2026, 2027 and 2028 are listed below, along with a file to add them to your calendar. You never lose public holidays, even if you're part-time or they fall on a weekend or a non-working day. That's explained here too.

How many public holidays are there?

There are 10 public holidays in Ireland each year. The most recent addition is St Brigid's Day, in place since 2023, which falls on the first Monday in February (unless 1 February is a Friday, in which case the Friday is the holiday). Good Friday is not one of the 10 · it carries no statutory public-holiday entitlement · but many schools, banks and offices still close, so it is included in the tables below and clearly marked as non-statutory, because people often want it in their calendar too.

Irish Public Holidays 2026

Add to calendar
HolidayDateDay
New Year's Day1 Jan 2026ThursdayThu
St Brigid's DayFirst Monday in February2 Feb 2026MondayMon
St Patrick's Day17 Mar 2026TuesdayTue
Good Friday Not a statutory public holiday3 Apr 2026FridayFri
Easter Monday6 Apr 2026MondayMon
May DayFirst Monday in May4 May 2026MondayMon
June holidayFirst Monday in June1 Jun 2026MondayMon
August holidayFirst Monday in August3 Aug 2026MondayMon
October holidayLast Monday in October26 Oct 2026MondayMon
Christmas Day25 Dec 2026FridayFri
St Stephen's Day26 Dec 2026SaturdaySat

Irish Public Holidays 2027

Add to calendar
HolidayDateDay
New Year's Day1 Jan 2027FridayFri
St Brigid's DayFirst Monday in February1 Feb 2027MondayMon
St Patrick's Day17 Mar 2027WednesdayWed
Good Friday Not a statutory public holiday26 Mar 2027FridayFri
Easter Monday29 Mar 2027MondayMon
May DayFirst Monday in May3 May 2027MondayMon
June holidayFirst Monday in June7 Jun 2027MondayMon
August holidayFirst Monday in August2 Aug 2027MondayMon
October holidayLast Monday in October25 Oct 2027MondayMon
Christmas Day25 Dec 2027SaturdaySat
St Stephen's Day26 Dec 2027SundaySun

Irish Public Holidays 2028

Add to calendar
HolidayDateDay
New Year's Day1 Jan 2028SaturdaySat
St Brigid's DayFirst Monday in February7 Feb 2028MondayMon
St Patrick's Day17 Mar 2028FridayFri
Good Friday Not a statutory public holiday14 Apr 2028FridayFri
Easter Monday17 Apr 2028MondayMon
May DayFirst Monday in May1 May 2028MondayMon
June holidayFirst Monday in June5 Jun 2028MondayMon
August holidayFirst Monday in August7 Aug 2028MondayMon
October holidayLast Monday in October30 Oct 2028MondayMon
Christmas Day25 Dec 2028MondayMon
St Stephen's Day26 Dec 2028TuesdayTue

Days marked Not a statutory public holiday are widely observed but are not official public holidays.

How to add public holidays to Apple, Outlook and Google Calendars

You can add Ireland's public holidays to your Outlook, Apple or Google Calendar by downloading our handy ICS file, or share them with your whole team and make booking annual leave easier than ever with a free trial of Book Time Off · the best way to track holidays simply.

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April 2026
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holidays.ics

Are public holidays included in my annual leave allowance?

Employers must give at least 20 days of annual leave to full-timers, and the 10 public holidays are on top of that. A public holiday does not necessarily have to be taken on the date itself · it can be given as an extra day off, or an extra day's pay if it is not taken at all. This is set out in the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997.

Calculating public holidays for part-time staff

Part-time workers get the same entitlement to annual leave as full-timers. The allowance is the only thing that changes. Someone who works 3 days out of 5 gets three-fifths of the public holidays a full-timer gets. In Ireland a full-timer gets 10 days, so a 3-out-of-5-days part-timer gets 6 days of public holiday allowance. If their working days do not fall on the public holidays themselves, they still accrue the allowance to use on their normal working days.

What happens when a public holiday falls on a weekend

If a public holiday falls on a weekend, you'll get the day as an added weekday somewhere else, or it'll be added to your annual allowance to use another time. You could be offered the pay instead, if it's not given as an extra day. Either way, you'll never lose your public holiday entitlement. So when St Stephen's Day lands on a Sunday, as it does in 2027, the day is not dropped · it still comes to you another way.

Frequently asked questions

How many public holidays does Ireland have?

Ireland has 10 public holidays a year: New Year's Day, St Brigid's Day, St Patrick's Day, Easter Monday, the May, June, August and October holidays, Christmas Day and St Stephen's Day.

Is Good Friday a public holiday in Ireland?

No. Good Friday is not one of Ireland's 10 statutory public holidays, so there is no public-holiday entitlement for it. Many schools, banks and businesses still close, and we include it in the tables on this page, marked as non-statutory, because people often want it in their calendar.

Are Irish public holidays part of annual leave?

No. The statutory 4 weeks' annual leave is separate from public holidays in Ireland. The 10 public holidays are provided on top of the holiday allowance, not deducted from it.

What happens when an Irish public holiday falls on a weekend?

You do not lose it. You will get the day as another weekday, or it will be added to your annual allowance to take later, or paid as an extra day if it is not given off. Your public holiday entitlement always carries.

Do part-time workers get public holidays in Ireland?

Yes, and it works pro-rata. Someone who works 3 days out of 5 gets three-fifths of the public holidays a full-timer gets. If a public holiday falls on a day they do not work, it is still added to their allowance to take another time.

Book Time Off editorial

Written by the Book Time Off editorial team. We build staff-leave software and write plain-language guides to time off across the markets we serve, checked against official government sources.

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This is general guidance, not legal advice
How public holidays interact with pay and leave depends on your contract and local law. For a specific situation, check the official government guidance or take professional advice. Dates last checked July 2026.