Ireland's bank holidays in 2026: the printed list
| Weekday | Date | Public holiday | In the law |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday | New Year's Day | the 1st day of January | |
| Monday | St Brigid's Day (February bank holiday) | the first Monday in February, or 1 February when it falls on a Friday (S.I. No. 50/2022) | |
| Tuesday | St Patrick's Day | St. Patrick's Day | |
| Monday | Easter Monday | Easter Monday | |
| Monday | May bank holiday | the first Monday in May | |
| Monday | June bank holiday | the first Monday in June | |
| Monday | August bank holiday | the first Monday in August | |
| Monday | October bank holiday | the last Monday in October | |
| Friday | Christmas Day | Christmas Day | |
| Saturday, at the weekend | St Stephen's Day | St. Stephen's Day |
The bank holiday dates for 2026 come from the Workplace Relations Commission's published list. The table shows every public holiday and its weekday: six fall on Mondays, and only St Stephen's Day falls at the weekend. New Year's Day is a Thursday, St Patrick's Day a Tuesday and Christmas Day a Friday. For school breaks, check the school calendar pages for the school years ending that summer and beginning that autumn.
At a glance
- Public holidays in the year
- ten public holidays during 2026, provided for by the Act and the regulations
- Monday holidays, Calculated
- six fall on Monday; these fall on other days: New Year's Day (Thursday), St Patrick's Day (Tuesday), Christmas Day (Friday) and St Stephen's Day (Saturday)
- Weekend public holidays, Calculated
- St Stephen's Day (Saturday 26 December 2026) falls at the weekend; its actual day appears in the table, and the Commission provides guidance on employee entitlements
- Long weekends, Calculated
- seven long weekends, each combining a weekend with one or more public holidays to make at least three days in a row
- Longest gap between public holidays, Calculated
- 83 days between August bank holiday (Monday 3 August 2026) and October bank holiday (Monday 26 October 2026), excluding both holiday dates
- February holiday rule, Calculated
- Monday 2 February 2026, applying the regulations' first-Monday rule for February
- Easter public holiday, Calculated
- Monday 6 April 2026; the preceding Good Friday, Friday 3 April 2026, has no public holiday status
Figures marked Calculated are worked out from the dates in the circular or the Commission's list, or from dates established by the Act and the regulations. The sources do not give these figures directly.
Add to your calendar (.ics) The file includes only the dates shown in this table, with a note explaining the source or rule for each. No extra dates are added.
Public holidays at the weekend
A public holiday at the weekend does not automatically move to the next weekday or make that weekday a public holiday, though it may be a public holiday in its own right. The Workplace Relations Commission explains:
However, there is no legal entitlement to have the next working day off work.
- St Stephen's Day (Saturday 26 December 2026) falls at the weekend; the next weekday, , is not a public holiday.
For employee entitlements, which this site does not cover, consult the Workplace Relations Commission.
Long weekends during 2026
- three days, from Saturday 31 January to Monday 2 February 2026, including St Brigid's Day
- three days, from Saturday 4 April to Monday 6 April 2026, including Easter Monday
- three days, from Saturday 2 May to Monday 4 May 2026, including May bank holiday
- three days, from Saturday 30 May to Monday 1 June 2026, including June bank holiday
- three days, from Saturday 1 August to Monday 3 August 2026, including August bank holiday
- three days, from Saturday 24 October to Monday 26 October 2026, including October bank holiday
- three days, from Friday 25 December to Sunday 27 December 2026, including Christmas Day and St Stephen's Day
Here, a long weekend combines Saturday and Sunday with adjoining public holidays to make at least three consecutive days, though workplace closure depends on the employer.
How the holidays fall in 2026
Easter Monday falls in the first week of April, during the school Easter holidays. Good Friday, just before that weekend, is not a public holiday. New Year's Day falls during the school Christmas holidays that began the previous December. Christmas Day on Friday and St Stephen's Day on Saturday fall during the following school Christmas break.
There are ten public holidays under the legal arrangements, with St Stephen's Day the only one on a weekend day this year. February opens on a Sunday, making the following Monday the St Brigid's Day holiday under the statutory rule. October's bank holiday follows the last-Monday rule and also begins the October mid-term week of the school year starting that autumn.
Easter 2026
Easter Monday, , is the public holiday. Good Friday, , is not (worked out from the date of Easter). Why Good Friday is not a bank holiday. School Easter holidays.
Where a bank holiday meets a school break
- October bank holiday, , falls in the October mid-term break of 2026/27.
Common questions
Where do the bank holiday dates for 2026 come from?
The dates come from the Workplace Relations Commission's published list for 2026. Of those public holidays, six fall on a Monday.
Is St Stephen's Day on a Saturday in 2026?
Yes. St Stephen's Day falls on Saturday 26 December 2026, after Christmas Day on Friday 25 December 2026. It is the only bank holiday in 2026 that falls at the weekend.
How does the October bank holiday line up with the school break?
The bank holiday on Monday 26 October 2026 coincides with October mid-term beginning on Monday 26 October 2026. The shared school closure therefore begins on the month's final Monday.
Official documents
- 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.