Ireland public holidays 2026

2026 at a glance

• Saint Stephen's Day falls on Saturday 26 December and is not moved, because Ireland has no statutory substitute days.
• In 2026, public holidays fall on 9 weekdays in Ireland, one fewer than in 2025.

Ireland has no statutory substitute days: a public holiday that falls on a Saturday or Sunday is not moved to a weekday, so the following Monday stays a working day in these counts.

Public holidays in 2026

10 dates are counted as non-working in Ireland in 2026; 9 of them fall on a weekday.

• not counted some employers only

Also observed by some

1 more day is a holiday only for some employers, sectors or areas in 2026. It is not counted as a non-working day here.

Working days and hours by month

Working days are Monday to Friday minus the counted holidays. Hours are shown for a 7.5-hour and an 8-hour working day.

• Jan 21 working days in January, 1 holiday
• Feb 19 working days in February, 1 holiday
• Mar 21 working days in March, 1 holiday
• Apr 21 working days in April, 1 holiday
• May 20 working days in May, 1 holiday
• Jun 21 working days in June, 1 holiday
• Jul 23 working days in July
• Aug 20 working days in August, 1 holiday
• Sep 22 working days in September
• Oct 21 working days in October, 1 holiday
• Nov 21 working days in November
• Dec 22 working days in December, 2 holidays

Long weekends in 2026

Runs of three or more days off in a row without taking leave.

• 3 days Saturday 31 January 2026 to Monday 2 February 2026
• 3 days Saturday 4 April 2026 to Monday 6 April 2026
• 3 days Saturday 2 May 2026 to Monday 4 May 2026
• 3 days Saturday 30 May 2026 to Monday 1 June 2026
• 3 days Saturday 1 August 2026 to Monday 3 August 2026
• 3 days Saturday 24 October 2026 to Monday 26 October 2026
• 3 days Friday 25 December 2026 to Sunday 27 December 2026

Best days to take leave in 2026

The longest single break for each number of leave days, built around a public holiday.

Leave plans for the whole year

Non-overlapping breaks that give the most days off for a given number of leave days.

Try any budget from 1 to 30 days in the leave planner

Countdown

The days to the next holiday appear here when JavaScript is on.

The working days left this month and this year appear here when JavaScript is on.

Count working days between two dates

Calendar and data downloads

The subscription works in Google Calendar, Outlook and Apple Calendar. The CSV file also lists the days observed by some.

About public holidays in Ireland

Ireland has ten public holidays each year. Unlike the United Kingdom, Ireland has a single list for the whole country and the law uses the term public holiday. The ten days are New Year's Day, the first Monday in February, St Patrick's Day (17 March), Easter Monday, the first Monday in May, the first Monday in June, the first Monday in August, the last Monday in October, Christmas Day and St Stephen's Day (26 December).

The legal basis is the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, which lists the public holidays and sets out what an employee receives for each one. The February holiday was added recently: the Workplace Relations Commission states that there has been a public holiday on the first Monday in February since 2023. There is one exception to that rule: when 1 February falls on a Friday, that Friday is the public holiday. Between 2026 and 2035 this happens once, on Friday 1 February 2030.

Ireland has no substitute days. When a public holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday it is not moved to the following Monday. The Workplace Relations Commission states that there is no legal entitlement to have the next working day off work. Under the Act, an employee who does not get the day itself receives one of the other benefits the Act provides, which the employer chooses: a paid day off within a month, an additional day of annual leave, or an additional day's pay. In 2026 St Stephen's Day falls on a Saturday. In 2027 Christmas Day falls on a Saturday and St Stephen's Day on a Sunday, so on this site Monday 27 December 2027 is counted as an ordinary working day.

The dates follow fixed rules, so none of the ten days is announced separately each year. Easter Monday moves with Easter: it is 6 April in 2026 and 29 March in 2027. The other Monday holidays are set by their position in the month, for example the October holiday is 26 October in 2026 and 25 October in 2027.

Good Friday is not a public holiday in Ireland. The Workplace Relations Commission states that Good Friday is a normal working day. HolidayTally lists it among the days observed by some, but does not count it as a non-working day.

The same list of ten public holidays applies throughout Ireland; there are no regional variations to count.

Source and last check

Dates are calculated with the python-holidays library 0.108 and checked against the official sources below. Last checked: 15 November 2026.

Sources

• https://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/what_you_should_know/public-holidays/

How the counts are made