School holidays in Ireland 2028: breaks and bank holidays
| Break | Primary schools | Post-primary schools | School year |
|---|---|---|---|
| February mid-term break | to inclusive, 2 days Or, with three discretionary days, the full week from to (5 days). | to inclusive, 5 days | 2027/28 |
| Easter holidays | Last day of termSchools re-open | 2027/28 | |
| October mid-term break | to inclusive, 5 days | 2028/29 | |
| Christmas holidays | Last day of termSchools re-open | 2028/29 | |
Christmas and Easter show the two printed days only; the February week at primary level is a choice each school makes. The summer holidays are not standardised.
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.
At a glance
- Standardised breaks beginning in 2028
- four breaks in chronological order: February mid-term break, Easter holidays, October mid-term break and Christmas holidays
- School years covered
- 2027/28 through spring and summer, then 2028/29 from autumn
- Weekdays off for mid-term, Calculated
- ten weekdays for post-primary schools; seven weekdays for primary schools, or ten weekdays with three discretionary days for the full February week. The full February week may be shortened to make up for unforeseen closures, but all schools must still close on Thursday and Friday; check your school's calendar.
- Public holiday breakdown, Calculated
- ten public holidays, including seven on Monday
- Long weekends, Calculated
- eight long weekends, each combining a weekend with one or more public holidays to make at least three days in a row
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.
For 2028, the school holidays include a later Easter, with Easter Monday in mid-April, and an October mid-term that continues into November. Primary and post-primary entries cover the spring of 2027/28 and the autumn of 2028/29; the corresponding school-year pages quote the circular. The accompanying table contains all ten public holidays, worked out from the Act and the statutory instrument. Seven fall on Monday, including Christmas Day, which sits immediately before Tuesday's St Stephen's Day at the end of the year.
Bank holidays 2028
The public holidays for 2028 are listed below. The bank holiday page for that year explains the dates and sources in detail. Bank holidays 2028 in full.
Dates calculated from the legal rules
The Workplace Relations Commission list does not cover this year yet. These dates are worked out from the Act and the statutory instrument, with Easter Monday taken from the date of Easter, and will be checked against the official list once it covers the year.
| Weekday | Date | Public holiday | In the law |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, at the weekend | New Year's Day, from the rule | the 1st day of January | |
| Monday | St Brigid's Day (February bank holiday), from the rule | the first Monday in February, or 1 February when it falls on a Friday (S.I. No. 50/2022) | |
| Friday | St Patrick's Day, from the rule | St. Patrick's Day | |
| Monday | Easter Monday, from the rule | Easter Monday | |
| Monday | May bank holiday, from the rule | the first Monday in May | |
| Monday | June bank holiday, from the rule | the first Monday in June | |
| Monday | August bank holiday, from the rule | the first Monday in August | |
| Monday | October bank holiday, from the rule | the last Monday in October | |
| Monday | Christmas Day, from the rule | Christmas Day | |
| Tuesday | St Stephen's Day, from the rule | St. Stephen's Day |
How school breaks and bank holidays fit together in 2028
The St Brigid's Day bank holiday falls on February's first Monday in 2028, a week into the month. Post-primary mid-term follows in the fourth week, later in the month than in the previous year. Primary schools close on Thursday and Friday, with the option of using three discretionary days to take the full week. These spring arrangements come from the circular for 2027/28. St Patrick's Day falls on a Friday during term, immediately before the weekend. The last day of term before Easter is the first Friday in April, and schools re-open on the fourth Monday. Good Friday and Easter Monday fall between those dates, though only Easter Monday is a public holiday. The May and June bank holidays follow. Post-primary teaching cannot continue beyond the Friday before the June bank holiday, ahead of the State examinations, but each school sets its own summer closing date.
The longest gap between public holidays in 2028 runs from the August bank holiday to the October bank holiday. The school year 2028/29 begins during that interval. The circular gives the week containing the first of September as the expected starting week, without setting a shared opening date. The October bank holiday falls at the very end of the month and begins the shared mid-term week, which ends on a Friday in November. The last day of term before Christmas is a Friday, with the January re-opening date listed separately. Christmas Day falls on Monday and St Stephen's Day on Tuesday. Together with the preceding Saturday and Sunday, they form a four-day long weekend in the calendar. This does not establish when any particular workplace closes; the school table gives the circular's school arrangements.
The two school years
School holidays 2027/28 (Circular 0018/2026) · School holidays 2028/29 (Circular 0018/2026). Where primary and post-primary differ.
Questions parents ask
What school holiday dates are published for 2028?
February mid-term runs from Monday 21 February 2028 to Friday 25 February 2028 for post-primary schools and from Thursday 24 February 2028 to Friday 25 February 2028 for primary schools. For Easter, the last day of term is Friday 7 April 2028 and schools re-open on Monday 24 April 2028. October mid-term runs from Monday 30 October 2028 to Friday 3 November 2028. For Christmas, the last day of term is Friday 22 December 2028 and schools re-open on Monday 8 January 2029. Check your school's calendar for summer dates.
Does October mid-term continue into November in 2028?
Yes. October mid-term runs from Monday 30 October 2028 to Friday 3 November 2028 for both primary and post-primary schools, ending in November.
Which school years overlap 2028?
The relevant school years are 2027/28 for spring and 2028/29 for autumn. Their standardised breaks fall on opposite sides of the summer holidays.
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)
- 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)
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.