Choosing a date
Bank holiday weekend weddings in Ireland: every date for 2027, 2028 and 2029
By Weddingz ·
The short version
- Ireland has ten public holidays. Six of them always make a three-day weekend.
- Guests get a day to travel home, which suits a wedding far from where most of them live.
- Registrars do not hold civil ceremonies at weekends or on public holidays.
- The dates for the next three years are in the table below.
A bank holiday weekend is the one time a Sunday wedding makes complete sense: nobody has work in the morning. It is also when half the country is travelling. Here are the dates, then the trade-offs.
The long weekends, 2027 to 2029
The Saturday of each bank holiday weekend, with the holiday itself in brackets.
| Weekend | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Brigid's Day | Sat, 30 Jan (Mon, 1 Feb) | Sat, 5 Feb (Mon, 7 Feb) | Sat, 3 Feb (Mon, 5 Feb) |
| Easter Monday | Sat, 27 Mar (Mon, 29 Mar) | Sat, 15 Apr (Mon, 17 Apr) | Sat, 31 Mar (Mon, 2 Apr) |
| May bank holiday | Sat, 1 May (Mon, 3 May) | Sat, 29 Apr (Mon, 1 May) | Sat, 5 May (Mon, 7 May) |
| June bank holiday | Sat, 5 Jun (Mon, 7 Jun) | Sat, 3 Jun (Mon, 5 Jun) | Sat, 2 Jun (Mon, 4 Jun) |
| August bank holiday | Sat, 31 Jul (Mon, 2 Aug) | Sat, 5 Aug (Mon, 7 Aug) | Sat, 4 Aug (Mon, 6 Aug) |
| October bank holiday | Sat, 23 Oct (Mon, 25 Oct) | Sat, 28 Oct (Mon, 30 Oct) | Sat, 27 Oct (Mon, 29 Oct) |
Good Friday is not a public holiday in Ireland, though many people take it off, so the Easter weekend often runs four days in practice.
The fixed dates
The other holidays fall on the same date each year, so whether they make a long weekend depends on the year.
| Holiday | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Year's Day | Fri, 1 Jan | Sat, 1 Jan | Mon, 1 Jan |
| St Patrick's Day | Wed, 17 Mar | Fri, 17 Mar | Sat, 17 Mar |
| Christmas Day | Sat, 25 Dec | Mon, 25 Dec | Tue, 25 Dec |
| St Stephen's Day | Sun, 26 Dec | Tue, 26 Dec | Wed, 26 Dec |
How popular are they?
The CSO figures are by calendar date, not by weekend, so they can't rank a moving holiday. They do show the pull of the fixed ones. The day before St Patrick's Day, 16 March, is the 37th most popular date of the year, well ahead of anything else in March. And 3 August, which often lands on the August bank holiday weekend, is the 5th most popular date of all, behind only the last days of December. See the full ranking.
What a long weekend changes
- Guests. A spare day to get home makes a far-flung venue easier to ask of people. On the other hand, some will already have the weekend planned, so send the save the dates early.
- Rooms. Hotels are busy with ordinary holidaymakers as well as your guests. Ask the venue to hold a block of rooms and give guests the release date.
- The day itself. A Sunday wedding with the Monday off behaves like a Saturday. Ask the venue how it prices the Sunday of a bank holiday weekend; don't assume it is the usual Sunday rate.
- Suppliers. Check that each one works the holiday and whether the price is the same.
Have a date in mind? The wedding date checker flags public holidays and long weekends for any date, along with the weather record and sunset time.
Sources
- Central Statistics Office, table VSA113: Marriages Dates from 2011
- Citizens Information: civil marriage ceremonies
Checked on 13 October 2026. This is general information, not legal advice. Rules and fees change, so confirm with the official source before you rely on them.