Public holidays 2026 in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland has 12 public holidays in 2026; 10 fall on a working day.
Download calendar file (.ics) For Outlook, Google Calendar and Apple Calendar; all-day events.
All public holidays with date and weekday
| Date | Weekday | Holiday | Countdown |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday | New Year's Day | ||
| Tuesday | Saint Patrick's Day | ||
| Friday | Good Friday | ||
| Monday | Easter Monday | ||
| Monday | May Day | ||
| Monday | Spring Bank Holiday | ||
| Sunday | Battle of the Boyne | ||
| Monday | Battle of the Boyne (observed) | ||
| Monday | Late Summer Bank Holiday | ||
| Friday | Christmas Day | ||
| Saturday | Boxing Day | ||
| Monday | Boxing Day (observed) |
Falling on a weekend in 2026: Battle of the Boyne (Sunday, 12 Jul) and Boxing Day (Saturday, 26 Dec).
Not a public holiday in every nation, but in Northern Ireland: Saint Patrick's Day, Easter Monday, Battle of the Boyne, Battle of the Boyne (observed) and Late Summer Bank Holiday.
For comparison: in 2026 the number of public holidays ranges from 9 (England and Wales) to 12 (Northern Ireland). Northern Ireland is among the nations with the most public holidays.
Days marked "observed" are substitute days off when a holiday falls on a weekend. Holidays based on a lunar calendar can shift by a day once the official announcement is made.
Dates are generated from the open-source library python-holidays and automatically cross-checked against Nager.Date and the public Google Calendar holiday calendars; every holiday on a working day must be confirmed by a second source. Official announcements take precedence, especially for holidays that depend on the moon or are declared at short notice.
Long weekends 2026
11 times a public holiday lies close to a weekend – with a little leave it becomes a long weekend:
| Take leave | Off | Days of leave | Days off | Ratio | Occasion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fri 2 Jan | 1 Jan – 4 Jan 2026 | 1 | 4 | 4 | New Year's Day |
| Mon 16 Mar | 14 Mar – 17 Mar 2026 | 1 | 4 | 4 | Saint Patrick's Day |
| Wed 18 Mar, Thu 19 Mar, Fri 20 Mar | 17 Mar – 22 Mar 2026 | 3 | 6 | 2 | Saint Patrick's Day |
| Mon 30 Mar, Tue 31 Mar, Wed 1 Apr, Thu 2 Apr | 28 Mar – 6 Apr 2026 | 4 | 10 | 2.5 | Good Friday, Easter Monday |
| Tue 7 Apr, Wed 8 Apr, Thu 9 Apr, Fri 10 Apr | 3 Apr – 12 Apr 2026 | 4 | 10 | 2.5 | Good Friday, Easter Monday |
| Tue 5 May, Wed 6 May, Thu 7 May, Fri 8 May | 2 May – 10 May 2026 | 4 | 9 | 2.3 | May Day |
| Tue 26 May, Wed 27 May, Thu 28 May, Fri 29 May | 23 May – 31 May 2026 | 4 | 9 | 2.3 | Spring Bank Holiday |
| Tue 14 Jul, Wed 15 Jul, Thu 16 Jul, Fri 17 Jul | 11 Jul – 19 Jul 2026 | 4 | 9 | 2.3 | Battle of the Boyne, Battle of the Boyne (observed) |
| Tue 1 Sep, Wed 2 Sep, Thu 3 Sep, Fri 4 Sep | 29 Aug – 6 Sep 2026 | 4 | 9 | 2.3 | Late Summer Bank Holiday |
| Mon 21 Dec, Tue 22 Dec, Wed 23 Dec, Thu 24 Dec | 19 Dec – 28 Dec 2026 | 4 | 10 | 2.5 | Christmas Day, Boxing Day, Boxing Day (observed) |
| Tue 29 Dec, Wed 30 Dec, Thu 31 Dec | 25 Dec – 3 Jan 2027 | 3 | 10 | 3.3 | Christmas Day, Boxing Day, Boxing Day (observed), New Year's Day |
Counted are gaps of up to four working days between a public holiday and the weekend or another public holiday. "Ratio" = days off per day of leave. Weekends follow the local working week.
Sources
- Data: python-holidays 0.105 (MIT licence), country code GB (retrieved Sep 27, 2026)
- Cross-check: Nager.Date public holiday API (MIT licence) (retrieved Sep 27, 2026)
- Cross-check: Google Calendar public holiday calendar (en.uk) (retrieved Sep 27, 2026)
Last updated:
More on 2026 in Northern Ireland
Public holidays in Northern Ireland: other years
- 2026
- 2027