Public holidays in Ireland

Information

There are 9 public holidays in Ireland each year. Public holidays in Ireland (as in other countries) may commemorate a special day or other event, for example, St Patrick's Day (17 March) or Christmas Day (25 December). On a public holiday, sometimes called a bank holiday, most businesses and schools close. Other services, for example, public transport still operate but often with restricted schedules. The list of public holidays in Ireland each year is as follows:

• New Year's Day (1 January)
• St. Patrick's Day (17 March)
• Easter Monday 
• First Monday in May, June, August
• Last Monday in October 
• Christmas Day (25 December)
• St. Stephen's Day (26 December)

Good Friday is not a public holiday. While some schools and businesses close on that day, you have no automatic entitlement to time off work on that day.

How is the date of Easter Monday determined each year?

Easter Monday is the only public holiday in Ireland (and other countries) that can vary significantly from year to year. The date of Easter moves every year within the international calendar for civil use. Broadly speaking, Easter should be the first Sunday after the first full moon occurring on or after 21 March. This means that the earliest possible date for Easter Sunday in any year is 22 March, the latest is 25 April. Easter Monday will fall on the following dates between now and 2012: 5 April 2010, 25 April 2011, 9 April 2012.

Rules

Your entitlement to public holidays is set out in the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997. Most employees are entitled to paid leave on public holidays. One exception is part-time employees who have not worked for their employer at least 40 hours in total in the 5 weeks before the public holiday.

Employees who qualify will be entitled to either the public holiday off as paid leave or one of the following alternatives:

• A paid day off within a month of the public holiday
• An additional day of annual leave
• An additional day's pay
• The nearest church holiday to the public holiday as a paid day off

The Organisation of Working Time Act provides that you may ask your employer at least 21 days before a public holiday, which of the alternatives will apply. If your employer fails to respond at least 14 days before the public holiday, you are entitled to take the actual public holiday as a paid day off.

Part-time employees

If you have worked for your employer at least 40 hours in the 5 weeks before the public holiday and you are due to work on a public holiday you are entitled to that day off as paid leave or one of the alternatives as listed above. If you are not required to work on that particular day you should receive one-fifth of your weekly pay instead of the actual day's leave. Even if you may never be rostered to work on a public holiday you are entitled to one-fifth of your weekly pay as compensation for the public holiday.

Sick leave on a public holiday

If you are a full time worker on sick leave during a public holiday, you have an entitlement to time off work for the public holiday you missed. If you are a part-time worker on sick leave during a public holiday, you would be entitled to time off work for the public holiday, provided you had worked for your employer for at least 40 hours in the previous five-week period.

You are not entitled to public holiday benefits if you have been off work for more than 26 weeks due to an ordinary illness or accident, or for more than 52 weeks due to an occupational accident.

Absence from work and public holiday entitlement

You are entitled to leave for any public holidays that occur while you are on maternity leave, parental leave or adoptive leave. These rights are set down in law in the Maternity Protection Acts 1994 and 2004, the Parental Leave Act 1998, and the Adoptive Leave Act 1995 respectively.

You are not entitled to public holiday benefits if you have been absent from work immediately before the public holiday and your absence is:

• Due to a strike
• Over 13 weeks, due to some other reason and authorised by your employer
• After the first 13 weeks of carer's leave

Losing your job

If your employment finishes during the week ending on the day before a public holiday and you have worked for your employer for the previous 4 weeks, you should receive an additional day's pay for the public holiday. This also applies to part-time employees who have established a right to the public holiday by working at least 40 hours in the previous 5 weeks.

Public holidays falling on a weekend

Where a public holiday falls on a weekend, you do not have any automatic legal entitlement to have the next working day off work. This occurs in 2009 when St Stephen's Day (26 December) falls on a Saturday. This means that Monday 28 December 2009 is not a public holiday. When this happens you are entitled to the normal alternative arrangements concerning employment and public holidays that is: 

• A paid day off within a month of the public holiday
• An additional day of annual leave
• An additional day's pay
• The nearest church holiday to the public holiday as a paid day off.

Your employer can require you to attend work on those days.

How to apply

You can find out more about public holidays in this explanatory booklet on holidays and public holidays (pdf) or from the Information Services of the National Employment Rights Authority.

If you are not getting your public holiday entitlement you may make a complaint to a Rights Commissioner using the application form to make a complaint under the Organisation of Working Time Act (pdf).

Where to apply