There are 9 public holidays in Ireland each year. Some people refer to them as Bank Holidays.
A Bank Holiday is a day on which the banks are closed. BUT – not all bank holidays are Public Holidays.
When a public holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday, some people assume that the following Monday is treated as a public holiday. But this is not the case.
The next bank holiday in Ireland in 2021 that is also a public holiday will be the June Bank Holiday on Monday, June 7th 2021 .
Public and Bank Holidays in Ireland in 2021
Unless stated otherwise – all the dates below are both Public and Bank Holidays in Ireland in 2021
- Friday, Jan 1st 2021. New Year’s Day
- Wednesday 17th March 2021 – St Patricks Day
- Friday 2nd April 2021 – Good Friday (Bank Holiday only – Not a Public Holiday)
- 5th April 2021 – Easter Monday
- May 3rd 2021 – May Day Bank Holiday
- Monday, June 7th 2021- June Bank Holiday
- August 2nd 2021 – August Bank Holiday
- Monday, October 25th 2021 – October Bank Holiday
- Saturday 25th December 2021 – Christmas Day
- Sunday 26th December 2021 – St Stephens Day
- Monday 27th December 2021 – (Banks closed – not a Public Holiday)
- Tuesday 28th December 2021 (Banks closed not a Public Holiday)
Bank and Public Holidays – Workers rights:
If a public holiday falls on a weekend, workers do not have any automatic legal entitlement to have the next working day off work. When this happens – some employers might treat the following Monday as a public holiday but your employer can require you to attend work on that day.
If a public holiday falls on a day that is not a normal working day for a business (for example, on Saturday or Sunday), employees are still entitled to the benefit for that public holiday.
When this happens you are entitled to one of the following
- A paid day off within a month of the public holiday
- An additional day of annual leave
- An additional day’s pay