When is the next bank holiday? The public holidays you need to know in 2024
Your next long weekend is just a few weeks away
Many of us are back to work and have the January blues. Need a morale boost? The next long weekend is sooner than you think.
2024 is the second year we have a bank holiday in February, to mark St Brigid’s Day. Introduced in 2023, the new annual public holiday is the first Monday in February, except where February 1 happens to fall on a Friday, in which case Friday 1 February will be a public holiday. Midterm breaks also take place this month, but not this week. Primary schools will close on February 15 and 16, with some opting to use three discretionary days to extend this to a five-day break. Secondary schools will close for five days from February 12.
St Patrick’s Day falls on a Sunday this year so the next day will be a public holiday, allowing you to recover from the previous day’s parades and festivities.
It’s not to mark April Fool’s Day. Easter Monday falls on April 1 this year. Good Friday is on March 29 but it is not a public holiday. However, some schools and businesses choose to close on that day. All schools finish up on Friday, March 22 for the Easter holidays and re-open on Monday, April 8.
The May bank holiday takes place six days into the month this year.
The first bank holiday of summer comes in early June — and for exam students, the Junior and Leaving Cert starts on Wednesday, June 5. Secondary schools usually close for summer before the bank holiday while primary schools usually close in the last week of June.
Fingers crossed for sunshine on the last bank holiday of summer. for any back-to-school prep, the school year normally starts in the week in which September 1 falls.
The October Bank Holiday always coincides with the Jazz Festival in Cork, so make sure to keep your schedule clear for lots of jazzing and socialising. Halloween, while not a public holiday, follows on Thursday, October 31. This is also the week of the midterm in schools, with primary and secondary schools closed from Monday, October 28 to Friday, November 1 — meaning you might need to have a Halloween costume ready for the last day of school on Friday, October 25.
Christmas Day and St Stephen’s Day fall midweek this year — if you want the full week off work you’ll need to book Monday, Tuesday and Friday off (unless your employer treats Christmas Eve as a company day). December 20 is the final day of the school term and all schools re-open on Monday, January 6, 2025.
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