Bank holidays in Northern Ireland

What Northern Ireland adds

Northern Ireland has 10 bank holidays: the 8 that England and Wales have, plus two of its own.

• St Patrick's Day, 17 March. It is a Tuesday in 2026, a Wednesday in 2027 and a Friday in 2028. If it falls at a weekend, a substitute weekday is given.
• The Battle of the Boyne, also called Orangemen's Day or the Twelfth, on 12 July. In 2026 the 12th is a Sunday, so the holiday is Monday 13 July. In 2027 it is a Monday and in 2028 a Wednesday.

Unlike Scotland, Northern Ireland keeps Easter Monday and the summer bank holiday on the last Monday in August, the same as England and Wales. Compare with England and Wales and Scotland.

Bank holidays and public holidays

nidirect separates the two: bank holidays are days when banks and many other businesses close, while public holidays are kept through custom and practice, such as Christmas Day.

St Patrick's Day is a bank holiday under the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971. The 12 July holiday is different: it is appointed each year by a Royal Proclamation under section 1(3) of the same Act, published in The Gazette. In practice both appear on the official list every year.

As in the rest of the UK, there is no automatic right to a day off on a bank holiday. Your contract sets which days you get, and employers can count bank holidays as part of the 5.6 weeks of statutory annual leave.

Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland

If you work or travel across the border, the holidays don't line up. New Year's Day, St Patrick's Day, Easter Monday, Christmas Day and St Stephen's Day (26 December) are holidays on both sides. The Republic does not have Good Friday, the Twelfth or the late-May and late-August bank holidays. Instead it has St Brigid's Day in early February and public holidays on the first Mondays of May, June and August and the last Monday in October. Check the Irish government's Citizens Information service for exact dates.

Planning around the holidays

Easter 2027 is early, so Good Friday (26 March) and Easter Monday (29 March) come only nine days after St Patrick's Day. See the dates in context on the 2027 calendar, check when Easter falls in later years, or count days off with the working days calculator.

Frequently asked questions