Holidays in Ireland

When I think of Holidays in Ireland, without a doubt, the first thing I think of, is their St. Patrick's Day - Ireland is another one of the places around the World that I would love to visit, and I would love to time it around that time of year!

The crazy thing is, I was telling my parents that I had finished this page and would love to go to Ireland, and they said that I've already been to Shannon, Ireland.  I was like "What"??? It turns out that since I'm a Military dependent, I was born in Augsburg, Germany, and when we came back to the United States from Germany, we stopped in Shannon, Ireland, and then flew to Newfoundland in Canada for refueling (I didn't know I had been there either!). I obviously was too young to remember, so I still have it on my travel bucket list to go again.

In addition to the major Holidays that are celebrated, there are many different festivals and events throughout the year.  For Oyster Fans out there, there is the International Oyster Festival held in the City of Galway each year in late September.  For Jazz lovers, you'll want to time your visit to attend the biggest Jazz festival in Ireland in the City of Cork, which is held every October.

Map of Ireland

Ireland, known as the Republic of Ireland is highlighted on the map above. Northern Island, the part not highlighted, is one of the constituent Countries of the United Kingdom.

Holidays and Observances in Ireland

All the Holidays in Ireland information below will give the 2023 Date and Holiday Name. Ultimately, we will have a Daily Holidays Page for each of the Days of the Year, and a devoted page for each of the Holidays and Observances.  Pages completed will be linked up below once they are done.

If a Holiday does not have 2024 after it below, that means that it is observed annually on the same day.  Those with 2024 listed after the date, are movable holidays that are observed on different days each year.

January 2024 Holidays in Ireland

• January 1 - New Year's Day - An Irish Tradition is taking a "New Years Swim" in the sea.

February 2024 Holidays in Ireland

• February 5, 2024 - St. Brigid's Day 

March 2024 Holidays in Ireland 

• March 10, 2024 - Mother's Day

• March 17 - St. Patrick's Day - When this day falls on a weekend, it is observed on the following Monday. In Ireland, this kicks off a 4-day festival with street fairs, carnivals, parades, food and lots of beer, and traditional Irish Music and dancing. The celebration in Dublin is the biggest.

• March 20, 2024 - Spring Equinox
  

• March 29, 2024 - Good Friday

• March 31, 2024 - Easter

April 2024 Holidays in Ireland

• April 1, 2024 - Easter Monday - Most businesses and schools in Ireland are closed for the week.
  

May 2024 Holidays in Ireland

• May 6, 2024 - May Day 

June 2024 Holidays in Ireland

• June 3, 2024 - June Bank Holiday 

• June 16, 2024 - Father's Day

• June 20, 2024 - June Solstice

July 2024 Holidays in Ireland

• None

August 2024 Holidays in Ireland

• August 5, 2024 - August Bank Holiday 

September 2024 Holidays 

• September 22, 2024 - September Equinox

October 2024 Holidays in Ireland

• October 28, 2024 - October Bank Holiday 

• October 31 - Halloween - There are many Halloween Festivals and Celebrations around the Country.  This would be a fun time to visit!

November 2024 Holidays in Ireland

• None

December 2024 Holidays in Ireland

• December 21, 2024 - December Solstice

• December 24 - Christmas Eve - Ireland has a large Catholic population (approx. 84% in 2011), so midnight mass on Christmas Eve is popular, as well as Christmas Day mass.

• December 25 - Christmas Day 

• December 26 - St. Stephen's Day - This day honors the Christian Martyr with ceremonies, feasts, and visits to the pubs.

• December 31 - New Year's Eve 

Overview of Ireland

The video below is a few years outdated, but gives a great overview of Ireland, with some great facts and music to the video!

Fun Facts About Ireland

• There are over 400 Golf Courses in Ireland

• The three biggest symbols for the Country are the Celtic Cross, the Harp which is the National Symbol, and the Shamrock.

• The History of Halloween, traces back to the Gaelic festival of Saimhain, which was a harvest festival held on October 31st, to celebrate the end of summer.

• Yippee - There are no snakes in Ireland!

• The most common spoken language in English since the late 19th century. Irish is the National and first official language, but both have official status in the Republic of Ireland.

• The oldest Pub in Ireland is Sean's Bar, which was founded over 900 years ago!

• The Titanic was built in Belfast, in Northern Ireland in 1912.

• Ireland, is often called the "Emerald Isle", because of it's green scenery. Incredibly beautiful!!

Top Things to Do in Ireland

The video below from Tourism Ireland, is long (over 8 minutes), but does a great job of showing the Country. 

• Golf! Over 240,000 golfers come to play golf in Ireland each year, at one of the 400 golf courses.

• It's a great country to hike!

• Visit the Castles

• Take a Road Trip - it is a small country and the countryside is incredibly green and beautiful.

• Bike the Country!

• Visit an Irish Pub!  One Word...Guinness!

• It is an Island, so take a Boat ride along the coast, or on one of the many rivers. The River Shannon is the largest at 240 miles.

• The Island is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the west, and the Celtic Sea separates it and mainland Europe.  The Irish Sea separates it from Great Britain.  There are many great beaches to visit in the country.  Some of the best are in the Southwest of Country Donegal, such as Bundoran Beach, Rossnowlagh Beach, Murvagh Beach, Fintragh Beach, and The Silver Stand.

• Visit the Countries TWO Capitals. Dublin, in the Republic of Ireland, and Belfast, in Northern Ireland.

• Visit the City of Cork, on the South end of the Island. Lonely Planet has named it one of the Top 10 Cities in the World!

• Visit the Cliffs of Moher - Ireland's most visited natural attraction. 702 feet tall at their highest point, they run for 5 miles long in County Clare in West Ireland. O'Brien's Tower is a great viewing point.

• Walk the Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge in Northern Island that links the mainland to the small island of Carrickarede.  (Bridge shown below, and you can see it in the video above)

Music

Ireland has had some great musical acts throughout the years, as well as their great Celtic Music.  Some of my favorites are U2, The Cranberries, and Snow Patrol, who I didn't realize was an Ireland Band.  They are best known for their song, Chasing Cars, but one of my favorites of theirs has always been their song, Chocolate, which is featured below.

Some of the other well know musicians and bands from Ireland include Enya, Gealic Storm, One Direction (English-Irish), Rory Gallagher, Sinead O'Conner, The Corrs, The Dubliners, Thin Lizzy, Van Morrison and Westlife. There are lots more great artists, so many that I may have to do a devoted page of Ireland's Top Music at some point!

Above, is Linger, one of my favorite songs from The Cranberries! Lead singer, Dolores O'Riordan had such an amazing voice!

Country Resources

• CIA - The World Fact Book about Ireland- The Central Intelligence Agency of the United States has a great Country overview of Ireland.

• DiscoverIreland.com is a great Tourism website created by Tourism Ireland, along with their Ireland.com website.

Pinterest Board of Ireland

Please Follow our Holidays and Observances Holidays in Ireland Holiday Board on Pinterest - below you will see our 30 most recent pins to this photo board!

Click on the SEE ON PINTEREST bar right above, to see all the rest of our photo's on this board, and to Follow the board. New photos will be constantly added!

Solo Build It, or SBI, is the awesome E-Business software that we are using for this site!

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