The Irish Gifts & Jewelry Blog

If you’ve ever wanted to learn some basic Irish phrases, you can do so in this hilarious video from Richie Kavanagh. Enjoy!

I’m often asked about holidays in Ireland. How many there are, when they are, what they mean, etc. So, I’ve compiled the list below. Many of them will be familiar. Enjoy your Irish time off!

New Year’s Day (1st January)
This is the first day of a new calendar year – just like it does in the rest of the world. No explanation was really necessary here, was it?

St. Patrick’s Day (17th March)
March 17th finds much of the world celebrating St Patrick’s Day. This day obviously commemorates St. Patrick, an Irish saint credited by legend with banishing snakes from Ireland, as well as explaining the Holy Trinity by using a shamrock. This, of course, is responsible for the popularity of the shamrock on this day.

Easter Sunday
This celebration naturally falls on a Sunday, so it is not really a holiday as much as it is a celebration. In addition to it being a Christian holiday, the tradition of Easter eggs is also very large in Ireland. These are often larger eggs that can be split in half, and the middle is filled with even more chocolate, such as mini candy bars, etc.

Easter Monday
The Monday after Easter Sunday is a public holiday in Ireland. Often traditional Easter Sunday meal portions almost demand that there be no work the following day! Strangely enough, Good Friday is not an official holiday in Ireland, but many will have this day off.

First Monday in May
Also known as May Day, Labor Day, or May Bank Holiday, this is Ireland’s most recent holiday addition. It has only been a public holiday since 1994.

First Monday in June
June Bank Holiday. Bank holidays are those days where the banks are closed, and the thought was that if the banks are not open, then no other business could operate. First Monday in August Summer or August Bank Holiday

Last Monday in October
October Bank Holiday (sometimes called Halloween holiday) .

Feast of the Immaculate Conception (8th December)
This is a Holy Day of Obligation in Ireland to celebrate the Immaculate Conception. May well be the busiest shopping day of the year due to its proximity to Christmas and the fact that all civil servants have the day off (hence the schools are closed). It marks the acceleration of the Christmas season.

Christmas Day (25th December)
Again, no explanation is really necessary. Christmas Day is a Christian holiday celebrated in most countries of the world.

St. Stephen’s Day (26th December)
This is a Christian holiday in Ireland that celebrates the first martyr of the Christian church. It is a very popular day to visit family that were not seen on Christmas Day, as well as pursuing less vigorous activities on one’s own home.

There has also been some talk in Ireland about increasing the number of holidays to bring that number more in line with European standards.