Bank holiday weekends, St Patrick's Day and Christmas

Newcomers commonly notice how the calendar is shaped by public holidays, often called bank holidays:

• Long weekends. Several public holidays fall on the first Monday of a month (February, May, June and August) or the last Monday in October, so the country has a series of long weekends.
• St Patrick's Day (17 March) is a public holiday on its fixed date, whichever day of the week it falls on.
• St Brigid's Day became a public holiday in 2023: the first Monday in February, or 1 February itself if it falls on a Friday.
• Christmas. Both Christmas Day (25 December) and St Stephen's Day (26 December) are public holidays, and some services do not run at all on Christmas Day; for example, there is no Luas service.

There are 10 public holidays a year: New Year's Day, the St Brigid's Day holiday in February, St Patrick's Day, Easter Monday, the first Mondays in May, June and August, the last Monday in October, Christmas Day and St Stephen's Day. In 2026 they fall on 1 January, 2 February, 17 March, 6 April, 4 May, 1 June, 3 August, 26 October, 25 December and 26 December. Good Friday is not a public holiday, although some schools and businesses close that day.

On a public holiday, most businesses and schools close. Public transport usually runs, but often on a reduced timetable. Employees who qualify are entitled to a paid day off or an alternative, such as an extra day of annual leave or an extra day's pay.

Opening hours on a bank holiday depend on the business, so check before you go, especially around Christmas. The 2027 dates are already set: for example, the February holiday falls on 1 February and Easter Monday on 29 March. School holidays, such as mid-term breaks, Christmas and Easter, follow their own standardised calendar.