All schoolsNext standardised break
Christmas holidays: 48 days to the last day of term
Last day of term , schools re-open .
School holidays in Ireland 2026/27 and 2027/28
Next school closure and next public holiday
Counted in Dublin time on Wednesday 4 November 2026. Dates are the Department's standardised dates; a school's own calendar adds its discretionary days and any local closures.
School year 2026/27: all standardised breaks
| Break | Primary schools | Post-primary schools |
|---|---|---|
| October mid-term break | to inclusive, 5 days All schools. | |
| Christmas holidays | Last day of termSchools re-open All schools. | |
| February mid-term break | to inclusive, 2 days Or, with three discretionary days, the full week from to (5 days). | to inclusive, 5 days |
| Easter holidays | Last day of termSchools re-open All schools. | |
The 2026/27 school year in full, with every break quoted from the circular.
School dates here follow the Department of Education and Youth's circulars for the Republic of Ireland. Northern Ireland schools follow a different calendar from their own Department of Education, which this site does not cover.
School breaks at primary and post-primary level
School year 2026/27, Circular 0018/2026. The table above gives the same dates in words.
SepOctNovDecJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAug
October mid-termChristmasFebruary mid-termEaster
Primary schools
Post-primary schools
The summer holidays and the first day of the school year are not standardised; your school's calendar has those dates.
Compare school holidays for primary and secondary schools, labelled post-primary in the Department's circulars. Choose a school year, a particular break or a calendar year from the links below. Check your school's own calendar before planning childcare, especially for February mid-term. School dates come from the Department's circulars; public holiday dates come from the official list or the rules in the Act and the relevant statutory instrument. Each source link includes the date it was checked.
Find a date
- School holidays 2026/27Circular 0018/2026
- School holidays 2027/28Circular 0018/2026
- School holidays 2028/29Circular 0018/2026
- School holidays in 2026the calendar year: every break and bank holiday
- School holidays in 2027the calendar year: every break and bank holiday
- School holidays in 2028the calendar year: every break and bank holiday
- February mid-termprimary and post-primary, every year
- October mid-termone week for all schools
- Christmas holidayslast day of term and re-opening
- Easter holidayswhen schools may shorten the break
- Summer holidayswhy there is no national date
- Primary vs post-primarywhere the school year differs
- The standardised school yearrules, minimum days, contingency
- Bank holidays 2026all ten public holidays
- Bank holidays 2027all ten public holidays
- Next bank holidaycountdown and upcoming bank holidays
- St Brigid's Daythe February bank holiday, year by year
- Bank holidays by yearthe Act, the February rule
- Is Good Friday a bank holiday?what the Act and the WRC say
How the dates are checked
Each school date is copied from the circular, and public holiday entries are checked against the Act, the statutory instrument and the official list where published. A separate reviewer then checks the entries against the document text. Nothing is estimated. For Christmas and Easter, only the last day of term and the re-opening day are shown, with no dates filled in between them. Summer closures and the start of the school year are never guessed. If an entry needs clarification, the official text takes precedence. This is an independent guide, not a service provided by the Department.
Questions parents ask
When is the next mid-term break?
The next mid-term break is in February, with the post-primary break scheduled from Monday 15 February 2027 to Friday 19 February 2027. A school authority may keep its school open for part of that week, up to and including Wednesday 17 February 2027, to make up for time lost to unforeseen closures. Primary schools close from Thursday 18 February 2027 to Friday 19 February 2027 and may use three discretionary days to take the full week. Check your school's calendar.
Are primary and post-primary school holidays the same?
February differs: primary schools close from Thursday 18 February 2027 to Friday 19 February 2027, compared with Monday 15 February 2027 to Friday 19 February 2027 at post-primary level. October, Christmas and Easter have shared dates, subject to the circular's applicable contingency provisions.
Where do these dates come from?
Circular 0018/2026 supplies the standardised school dates for 2026/27. Public holiday dates follow the Act and the regulations, checked against the Workplace Relations Commission list where published.
Official documents
- Department of Education and Youth: Circular 0018/2026 Standardisation of the school year ... 2026/27, 2027/28 and 2028/29 (PDF, February 2026) (first read on 26 October 2026; checked again on 2 November 2026, unchanged)
- Workplace Relations Commission: Public Holidays (first read on 26 October 2026; checked again on 2 November 2026, unchanged)
- Irish Statute Book: Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, Second Schedule (as enacted) (first read on 26 October 2026; checked again on 2 November 2026, unchanged)
- Irish Statute Book: S.I. No. 50/2022 Organisation of Working Time (Covid-19 Commemoration) Regulations 2022 (HTML) (first read on 26 October 2026; checked again on 2 November 2026, unchanged)
- Department of Education: Circular 0072/2022 Standardisation of the school year ... 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26 (DOCX, 10 November 2022) (first read on 26 October 2026; checked again on 2 November 2026, unchanged)
Every date on this page was checked against these documents on . If anything here differs from the circular or the Act, the official text applies. How the dates are checked.