Public Holidays in Ireland: Employer Guide to Entitlements

Ireland has ten public holidays a year, and the rules on who qualifies and what the employer can offer instead catch out many managers, particularly for part-time and rostered staff. This guide summarises the Citizens Information page on public holidays, which was edited on 1 January 2026. It is general information and not legal advice. For other leave rules, see our guide to domestic violence leave in Ireland, which the public holidays page also refers to.

The ten public holidays

• New Year’s Day (1 January)
• St Brigid’s Day, the first Monday in February, or 1 February if that date is a Friday
• St Patrick’s Day (17 March)
• Easter Monday
• The first Monday in May, June and August
• The last Monday in October
• Christmas Day (25 December) and St Stephen’s Day (26 December)

For 2026 and 2027 the page lists 2 February and 1 February for St Brigid’s Day, and 6 April and 29 March for Easter Monday. Good Friday is not a public holiday, and employees have no automatic entitlement to time off on that day.

Who qualifies

Most employees are entitled to the benefit of a public holiday. Full-time workers qualify immediately. Part-time workers qualify after working at least 40 hours in the five weeks before the public holiday, and annual leave counts toward those hours.

What the employer can offer

The employee qualifies for one of the following, and the employer chooses:

• a paid day off on the public holiday
• an additional day of annual leave
• an additional day’s pay
• a paid day off within a month of the public holiday

The employee can ask the employer, at least 21 days beforehand, which option applies. If the employer has not replied at least 14 days before the holiday, the employee gets the actual holiday off with pay.

Part-time workers

If the holiday falls on a day a part-time worker normally works, they are paid even if they do not work, and if they do work they get an extra day’s pay. If it falls on a day they do not normally work, they get one fifth of their weekly pay. If a public holiday falls on a non-working day, the worker is still entitled to the holiday benefit, but there is no automatic right to the next working day off.

Worked illustrations

These examples are our own illustrations of the rules above, not examples from Citizens Information.

• A full-time employee is on the payroll when a public holiday falls on a Monday. They qualify at once, and the employer decides which of the four options applies.
• A part-time employee has worked 36 hours in the five weeks before a public holiday, including a week of annual leave. Annual leave counts toward the hours, so the employer should include it when checking whether the 40-hour threshold is met.
• A part-time employee normally works Tuesday and Thursday. A public holiday falls on a Monday. Under the page, they get one fifth of their weekly pay, and no automatic right to the next working day off.
• An employee asks about a holiday that falls on the 30th of the month. Twenty-one days before is the 9th, so the request can be made from then, and the employer should reply by the 16th, which is 14 days before. If it has not, the employee gets the holiday off with pay.

Leave and absence

The page says sick leave, maternity, adoptive, paternity, parent’s, parental and domestic violence leave, lay-off, short-time work and job loss each have specific rules. We have not summarised those individually, so check the page for the situation in question. Complaints go to the Workplace Relations Commission within six months, extendable by six months for reasonable cause.

Our suggestions

These are our own practical suggestions, not Citizens Information guidance. Decide at the start of each year which option you will offer for each holiday, and tell staff in writing. Put a reminder in your calendar 21 days before each holiday so that staff questions are answered before the 14-day point. Check rosters for part-time staff before a holiday week. Keep a note of the option chosen for each holiday and each employee, so that you can answer any later query.

What the sources do not say

The page does not set out rules specific to shift workers and does not say in detail how the day’s pay is calculated beyond a reference to the regulations. We have not checked the underlying legislation line by line.

For how annual leave entitlement is calculated, see our annual leave guide for Irish employers.

Frequently asked questions

How many public holidays are there in Ireland?

Ten a year, according to Citizens Information.

Is Good Friday a public holiday?

No. The page says there is no automatic entitlement to time off on Good Friday.

When do part-time workers qualify?

After working at least 40 hours in the five weeks before the public holiday.

What if the employer does not reply to a request about the holiday?

If the employer has not replied at least 14 days before the holiday, the employee gets the holiday off with pay.

Does annual leave count toward the qualifying hours?

Yes. The page says annual leave counts toward the 40 hours.

Can an employer choose which option applies?

Yes. The employee qualifies for one of the four options, and the page sets out the choices the employer can offer.

Next steps

Learnsignal’s offices are off Baggot Street in Dublin, and we offer in-person training from there. For current details, see our CPD pages.