June Bank Holiday 2027

What is June Bank Holiday?

The June Bank Holiday is an Irish public holiday on the first Monday of June. It is a secular holiday with no religious or national theme, and it marks the start of the summer season, with long evenings, festivals, concerts and sporting events across the country. For many people it is the first long weekend of the summer and a popular time to travel within Ireland or to the coast. It is also known as the June Holiday. Many Irish people see it as the unofficial start of summer. It sits between the late May weekend in Britain and the longer school summer break.

Early June is a busy time for the Irish summer calendar: music festivals, county sporting fixtures, horse racing meetings and village fairs are scheduled over the weekend, and the first outdoor barbecues, camping trips and family outings of the year often take place. Weather in early June is often mild, with very long evenings, since sunset in Ireland falls close to ten o'clock around the summer solstice. Local councils and tourism bodies treat the weekend as the opening of the visitor season, and many seasonal attractions, ferries and heritage sites start their full summer timetables around this date. Public gardens and heritage houses typically open longer hours.

Why it is observed

The holiday replaced the Whit Monday bank holiday in 1973, when the Irish government moved to a fixed date in order to avoid the variation of a holiday tied to Easter. Whit Monday had been one of the original bank holidays in the Bank Holidays Act of 1871, and it fell on a different date every year. The new holiday in June was tied to a Monday of the calendar month instead, and made the pattern of Irish bank holidays more consistent, with holidays on the first Monday of June and August and the last Monday of October.

How the date is set

The June Bank Holiday in Ireland is the first Monday in June, so it falls between 1 and 7 June.

How it is observed

The June Bank Holiday is a public holiday in Ireland. Banks, public offices and schools are closed, and public transport runs on a holiday schedule, though many shops, restaurants and attractions are open. Roads and trains to coastal areas can be busy, and accommodation books early. In Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom, the nearby Spring Bank Holiday falls in late May instead. Entitlements to pay or time off depend on Irish public holiday law, the employer and the contract. Check the local timetable before travelling. Many people also take the following days as leave.