Long weekends and bank holidays in Northern Ireland 2026 and 2027
More holiday, fewer leave days.
Every bank holiday in Northern Ireland, the long weekends they make, and the leave hacks that stretch them into a proper break.
How many days of leave do you have?
Type a number. The plan below lists the days to book in England & Wales 2026.
Long weekends in England & Wales 2026
Three or more days off in a row with no annual leave needed.
Best times to book leave
Breaks of a week or more, in date order. The badge ranks them by days off per day booked. Book the highlighted weekdays.
Bank holidays in Northern Ireland 2026 and 2027
Greyed rows are part-day, regional or restricted days: shown for completeness, left out of the maths.
2026 Gazetted
| Date | Holiday | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Thu 1 Jan | New Year's Day | |
| Tue 17 Mar | St Patrick's Day | |
| Fri 3 Apr | Good Friday | |
| Mon 6 Apr | Easter Monday | |
| Mon 4 May | Early May bank holiday | |
| Mon 25 May | Spring bank holiday | |
| Mon 13 Jul | Battle of the Boyne (Orangemen's Day) (substitute day) | 12 July falls on a Sunday; the substitute is Monday 13 July. |
| Mon 31 Aug | Summer bank holiday | |
| Fri 25 Dec | Christmas Day | |
| Mon 28 Dec | Boxing Day (substitute day) | Boxing Day falls on a Saturday; the substitute is Monday 28 December. |
2027 Gazetted
| Date | Holiday | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fri 1 Jan | New Year's Day | |
| Wed 17 Mar | St Patrick's Day | |
| Fri 26 Mar | Good Friday | |
| Mon 29 Mar | Easter Monday | |
| Mon 3 May | Early May bank holiday | |
| Mon 31 May | Spring bank holiday | |
| Mon 12 Jul | Battle of the Boyne (Orangemen's Day) | |
| Mon 30 Aug | Summer bank holiday | |
| Mon 27 Dec | Christmas Day (substitute day) | Christmas Day falls on a Saturday. |
| Tue 28 Dec | Boxing Day (substitute day) | Boxing Day falls on a Sunday. |
Sources
- 2026: https://www.gov.uk/bank-holidays.json — checked 2026-11-08. GOV.UK JSON feed, division northern-ireland.
- 2027: https://www.gov.uk/bank-holidays.json — checked 2026-11-08. GOV.UK JSON feed, division northern-ireland.
What's different in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland has the England and Wales set plus St Patrick's Day (17 March) and the Battle of the Boyne, Orangemen's Day, on 12 July, giving ten bank holidays a year. When 12 July falls on a weekend, as it does in 2026, a substitute Monday is given.
How the hacks are worked out
We take every bank holiday for your nation, add the weekends, and look for stretches where a few days of annual leave bridge the gaps. A hack is any run of seven or more days off that you can unlock when you book one to nine days, measured from the first day you would be off to the last. They are ranked by days off per day booked, so three days for a ten-day Christmas break (3.3×) beats four for a nine-day May bank holiday week (2.3×). The budget planner picks the best non-overlapping hacks that fit the annual leave you have, then spends any days left over on short bridges such as a single day that turns a Thursday holiday into a four-day weekend.
Only bank holidays listed by GOV.UK are counted; local or company holidays are not. Hacks assume you work Monday to Friday.