Bank Holidays in Ireland 2020: Dates and Full List

Ireland had nine official public holidays in 2020, but the pandemic turned every one of them into something unrecognisable from previous years. From New Year’s Day in January to St. Stephen’s Day in December, all nine dates stood unchanged in law—yet the lived experience of each holiday diverged sharply from the statutory schedule.

Total Bank Holidays: 9 · First Holiday: 1 January 2020 · St. Patrick’s Day: 17 March 2020 · Easter Monday: 13 April 2020 · June Bank Holiday: 1 June 2020

The table below shows the full 2020 public holiday calendar alongside the day of the week each date fell on, revealing a striking concentration of holidays on Mondays throughout the year.

How many bank holidays are there in Ireland in 2020?

Ireland had exactly 9 official public holidays in 2020, according to the Republic’s statutory schedule. This number held steady from previous years — the standard complement of holidays that Irish employment law requires employers to recognise. The count remained unchanged despite the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic that year.

Standard count

• The 9 public holidays are set out in the Holidays (Employees) Act 1973 and its amendments, giving them legal force in the employment context.
• Good Friday (10 April 2020) is often mistakenly thought to be a public holiday, but it carries no statutory entitlement in the Republic of Ireland — unlike in Northern Ireland.
• Calendarific recorded 19 total observances in Ireland for 2020, but that figure includes religious feast days, equinoxes, and cultural days beyond those with legal public holiday status.

Regional variations

• The Republic of Ireland’s 9 public holidays differ from Northern Ireland’s 10, which includes the Anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne on 13 July.
• Workers in Northern Ireland may have a different statutory entitlement depending on their jurisdiction of employment.

What are the 10 bank holidays in Ireland?

The question framing “10 bank holidays” reflects a post-2023 reality: Ireland added a tenth permanent public holiday for Imbolc/St Brigid’s Day from 2023. But for the 2020 calendar, the statutory list contained nine. Below is the complete verified date list for 2020, sourced from RTE and cross-checked against Office Holidays.

January to April dates

• New Year’s Day: Wednesday, 1 January — the year opened with the first of four midweek holidays in 2020.
• St. Patrick’s Day: Tuesday, 17 March — falling on a Tuesday, this created a mid-week break rather than a long weekend.
• Easter Monday: Monday, 13 April — moveable date determined by the Christian liturgical calendar; marked the first of three consecutive Mondays that would serve as public holidays in spring 2020.

May to December dates

• May Bank Holiday: Monday, 4 May — the first Monday of May marks the early summer holiday.
• June Bank Holiday: Monday, 1 June — the first Monday of June; 2020 was the first year the holiday fell on June 1st specifically.
• August Bank Holiday: Monday, 3 August — the first Monday of August; Ireland’s main summer break.
• October Bank Holiday: Monday, 26 October — the last Monday of October; traditionally signals the run-up to Christmas.
• Christmas Day: Friday, 25 December — falling on a Friday meant a natural long weekend when paired with St. Stephen’s Day.
• St. Stephen’s Day: Saturday, 26 December — the Boxing Day equivalent, always 26 December or the following Monday if it falls on a weekend.

Bank holidays Ireland 2020 COVID

The COVID-19 pandemic did not change the official dates of any 2020 bank holidays — but it fundamentally altered how Ireland observed them. The government never rescheduled a public holiday due to the public health emergency, meaning all nine dates stood as written. What changed was the practical reality of celebration, work, and movement around them.

Any changes due to pandemic

• No bank holiday date was moved, postponed, or substituted in 2020 — the statutory schedule remained intact.
• However, the March restrictions (from mid-March) meant St. Patrick’s Day on 17 March fell within Ireland’s first major lockdown period, with pubs, restaurants, and non-essential retail closed nationwide.
• By Easter Monday (13 April), the country was already under tight restrictions, making the holiday a quiet observance for most.

Confirmed dates despite COVID

• Every 2020 public holiday date is confirmed in RTE’s published list and remains verifiable in official records — the pandemic affected observance, not the calendar itself.
• The government’s response included a later gesture of recognition: on 18 March 2022, a one-off public holiday was declared to honor COVID-19 workers and victims, creating a four-day weekend following St. Patrick’s Day.
• Eligible frontline health and ambulance workers received a one-off tax-free payment of €1,000 in recognition of COVID-19 work under this initiative.

These are the Bank Holidays for Ireland in 2020 – RTE

RTE published the authoritative 2020 public holiday list on 2 January 2020, in one of its first lifestyle articles of the year. That timing is notable: the piece appeared before the pandemic’s full impact reached Ireland, making it a pre-COVID snapshot of what the year was expected to look like. The list has since been archived and remains the primary tier-1 source for all nine dates.

RTE listed dates

• RTE confirmed: New Year’s Day (1 January), St. Patrick’s Day (17 March), Easter Monday (13 April), May Bank Holiday (4 May), June Bank Holiday (1 June), August Bank Holiday (3 August), October Bank Holiday (26 October), Christmas Day (25 December), and St. Stephen’s Day (26 December).
• The article listed each date with day-of-week confirmation, useful for planning extended weekends.

Additional observances

• RTE’s list did not include Good Friday (10 April) — this is consistent with Irish law, which excludes Good Friday from statutory public holiday status despite its widespread cultural observance.
• The article also did not include Mother’s Day (22 March 2020) or other commercial holidays, focusing strictly on those with legal standing for employees.

Bank holidays Ireland 2020 August

The August Bank Holiday on Monday, 3 August 2020 fell during one of the more turbulent periods of Ireland’s pandemic year. Earlier that same month — on 7 August — the government reintroduced targeted restrictions in Kildare, Laois, and Offaly following significant spikes in COVID-19 cases. While the rest of the country proceeded with fewer curbs, the August break carried an undercurrent of uncertainty.

August bank holiday date

• The August Bank Holiday was fixed by law at the first Monday of August, which in 2020 was Monday, 3 August.
• This date preceded the regional restrictions announced on 7 August by four days, meaning the holiday weekend itself was not directly affected by the targeted measures.

Other summer holidays

• The August break was the third Monday public holiday of summer 2020, following May (4 May) and June (1 June) bank holidays.
• Travel restrictions announced by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar on 12 June 2020 advised against non-essential overseas travel, affecting how some families approached the August break.
• The regional restrictions in Kildare, Laois, and Offaly were lifted between 21 and 31 August, restoring relative normalcy by the time summer wound down.

Here’s all the Bank Holidays for 2020.

— RTE Lifestyle, published 2 January 2020

List of Holidays in Ireland in 2020.

— Office Holidays, Ireland 2020 calendar page

Ireland ended 2020 with a vaccination programme just getting started and Level 5 restrictions reimposed for Christmas. The nine public holidays had come and gone on their statutory dates — unchanged by the pandemic in law, but experienced very differently in practice. The government’s later decision to create a one-off COVID-19 recognition holiday on 18 March 2022, plus the addition of a permanent tenth holiday from 2023, suggests officials viewed 2020’s public holidays as occurring in circumstances that warranted later acknowledgment.

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Compared to 2020’s nine bank holidays, the 2024 Ireland bank holidays list confirms ten days in Ireland including a rare St. Patrick’s extension.

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