St Patrick’s Day 2027: Bank Holiday in Northern Ireland Only

Last verified 27 September 2026 against the official GOV.UK bank holidays dataset.

St Patrick’s Day 2027 falls on Wednesday 17 March 2027. It is a bank holiday in Northern Ireland only — in England, Wales and Scotland it is an ordinary working day — and a public holiday across the border in the Republic of Ireland. Because it lands mid-week, the long weekend has to be built with annual leave.

St Patrick’s Day 2027 across the UK and Ireland

The date comes straight from GOV.UK’s bank holiday list for Northern Ireland, which shows 17 March 2027 as a normal (not substitute) bank holiday. For the whole year laid out nation by nation, see our Northern Ireland bank holidays 2027 page or the four-nation UK bank holidays 2027 table.

Why it is a bank holiday in Northern Ireland only

St Patrick’s Day first became a bank holiday under the Bank Holiday (Ireland) Act 1903, when the whole island was still part of the United Kingdom. Today it is a public holiday in the Republic, while the Northern Ireland entry sits in Schedule 1 of the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971, which names 17 March as a Northern Ireland bank holiday — moved to 18 March in any year when the 17th is a Sunday. England, Wales and Scotland have never had an equivalent, which is why a London or Glasgow office works as normal on the day.

The 1971 wording only deals with a Sunday. When 17 March fell on a Sunday in 2019 and 2024, GOV.UK moved the holiday to 18 March, the following Monday — the 2024 case is in the table below. There is a wider explainer on our St Patrick’s Day in Northern Ireland page, and on the general rule in bank holiday vs public holiday.

St Patrick’s Day bank holiday, 2024 to 2028

From 2024 to 2028 the day off only moved once, in 2024. Looking further ahead, 17 March 2029 is a Saturday; GOV.UK has not yet published 2029 dates, so treat any substitute date you see quoted for that year as provisional until it appears on the official list.

Turning a Wednesday bank holiday into a proper break

A mid-week bank holiday splits the week rather than extending a weekend. If you work in Northern Ireland and your employer gives the day off, three combinations work well in 2027:

• Five days for two days’ leave (after): book Thursday 18 March and Friday 19 March to get 5 days off in a row, from Wednesday 17 March to Sunday 21 March.
• Five days for two days’ leave (before): book Monday 15 March and Tuesday 16 March for 5 days off from Saturday 13 March to Wednesday 17 March.
• Bridge to Easter: Easter 2027 is early — Easter Sunday is 28 March 2027 — and Northern Ireland has both Good Friday (26 March 2027) and Easter Monday (29 March 2027). Book the 6 working days between Thursday 18 March and Thursday 25 March and you get 13 consecutive days off, from Wednesday 17 March to Monday 29 March.

The Easter bridge is the best-value block of leave in the Northern Ireland calendar for 2027: roughly two days off for every day of leave. Expect it to be popular, so get requests in early. More options for the rest of the year are on our long weekends 2027 planner and the Easter 2027 guide.

Parades and events

Belfast holds the largest St Patrick’s Day parade in Northern Ireland, with floats and live performers through the city centre, and Derry~Londonderry runs its own festival with street performances and markets. The places most closely linked to the saint are in County Down and County Armagh: Down Cathedral in Downpatrick is the traditional burial place of Saint Patrick, and the nearby Saint Patrick Centre describes itself as the only permanent exhibition about Ireland’s patron saint. Armagh has two cathedrals dedicated to him, and Slemish Mountain in County Antrim is linked by tradition to his early years in Ireland.

South of the border, Dublin’s St Patrick’s Festival started in 1996 and has since grown into a multi-day event built around the parade on the 17th. Programmes for March 2027 had not been published when we checked on 27 September 2026, so confirm routes and start times with the organisers nearer the day.

Why 17 March? It is the traditional date of Saint Patrick’s death in the fifth century, which is why the date is fixed rather than moving to a Monday like most UK bank holidays.

What is open in Northern Ireland on 17 March 2027

• Banks: branches in Northern Ireland normally close on local bank holidays. Payments are more nuanced: the Bacs processing calendar runs on the England and Wales calendar and flags Northern Ireland-only bank holidays separately, advising customers to check with their payment provider how accounts held in Northern Ireland are treated. See are banks open on bank holidays.
• Shops and supermarkets: trading hours vary by retailer; many larger stores open, often on reduced hours. Check our supermarket bank holiday hours guide and the store’s own listing.
• Public transport: Translink publishes holiday timetables for bank holidays; check before you travel, especially on parade days when city-centre roads close.
• GPs and pharmacies: treat it like any bank holiday — see GP surgeries and pharmacies on bank holidays.
• Schools: closure days are set school by school, so check the term calendar. Background in are schools closed on bank holidays.

In England, Wales and Scotland it is business as usual: banks, post, bins and trains run to a normal Wednesday pattern.

UK vs Ireland: same day, different rules

The date is shared, but the employment rules are not. In Northern Ireland, as in the rest of the UK, a bank holiday carries no automatic right to a day off or extra pay. Your entitlement comes from your contract. Full-time workers get 5.6 weeks’ statutory paid leave a year, and an employer may count bank holidays as part of that allowance. Our guides to bank holiday entitlement, working on a bank holiday and bank holiday pay cover the detail.

In the Republic of Ireland, St Patrick’s Day is a statutory public holiday. According to Citizens Information, a qualifying employee is entitled to one of the following: a paid day off on the day, a paid day off within a month, an extra day of annual leave, or an extra day’s pay. The employer chooses which, and should say so at least 21 days in advance.

The two calendars also differ over the rest of 2027. Ireland has 10 public holidays, Northern Ireland 10 bank holidays — but only some coincide:

Note the Christmas difference. Christmas Day 2027 is a Saturday, and the UK moves both Christmas bank holidays to the following Monday and Tuesday. Irish law does not create an automatic weekday off when a public holiday falls on a weekend; the employee instead receives one of the benefits above. For cross-border commuters, which rule applies depends on where you are employed, not where you live — check your contract. Travelling south for the day? Our guide to public holidays in Ireland covers what to expect.