Your situation

CarersCarersCarersDisability & illnessDisability & illnessDisability & illnessPensioners & over-66sPensionersPensionersFamilies & childrenFamilies & childrenFamilies & childrenSingle parentsSingle parentsSingle parentsOut of workOut of workOut of workRentingRentingRenting

Across the border

Which side pays you?Living on one side, working on the otherTax relief for cross-border workersChild Benefit across the borderHealthcare for frontier workersChildcare across the borderTreatment abroad: claim the HSE cost backCars and the border

By topic

Housing & home grantsHome energy & SEAIHome energy & heatingHealth & medical cardsHealth costsTax back & tax creditsTax & National InsuranceTax back & allowancesWork & self-employedFarmingFarmingStudents & collegeStudents & collegeHelp in a crisisHelp in a crisisHelp in a crisis

Where you live

IrelandNorthern IrelandEnglandAcross the borderDeadlines coming upAll guides
Payment dates Payment dates

Start here

Check what you're owedAsk a questionCross-border checkAll calculators & checkers

Work it out

Better off working? — IrelandBetter off working?Better off working? — UK & NIBetter off working?The Money MOTLife-event finder

Get it done

Claim pack generatorAppeal letter generatorMy claims plan

Start here

Every way to spend lessSave money in IrelandSave money in Northern IrelandSave money in England

Groceries

The Real Basket — price trackerCheapest supermarketSnap your shopGrocery calculatorCommunity price map

Bills, rent & region

Bill savings estimatorSwitch your billsRent increase checkerSave money — IrelandEvery way to spend lessSave money — Northern IrelandSave money — England

Bills & home

Bill savings estimatorRent increase checkerCheaper broadband and phoneHome energy schemesWarm Home Discount

Shopping

The tricks shops useCashback that is worth itGet your money backYour consumer rightsSpot a scam
Guides Free cheat-sheet

Show the site for

IrelandNorthern IrelandEnglandAcross the border
Home / Payment Dates / Bank holidays

Bank holiday? You get paid early, not late.

Payment dates · Ireland, NI & England•Free · no sign-up•Updated Tuesday 13 October 2026
PZak Carolan · The People's PocketBank holiday dates from the official lists

This is the question that gets asked every single bank holiday, usually on the morning itself: my payment was due today and it hasn't arrived. In both Ireland and the UK the answer is nearly always the same — it came early. Neither system pays late for a holiday, and you never lose a payment.

🇮🇪
Ireland — next bank holiday
Monday 26 October 2026
October Bank Holiday

In 13 days. Payments due on the holiday are paid on Friday 23 October 2026 instead.

🇬🇧
UK & Northern Ireland — next bank holiday
Friday 25 December 2026
Christmas Day

In 73 days. Payments due on the holiday are paid on Thursday 24 December 2026 instead.

The rule, in each place

Ireland: if your payment is due on a public holiday it is paid on the previous working day. If it goes into your bank it arrives early; if you collect it at the post office it is available from that day too. Jobseekers do not sign on on a public holiday. Child Benefit generally lands as normal.

UK and Northern Ireland: if your payment date falls on a bank holiday or a weekend, you are paid on the last working day before it.

You are not being paid twice, and you are not losing a week. The money arrives sooner, and the following payment goes back to its normal day. The most common mistake is assuming an early payment is an extra one and spending it — it has to stretch further, not less far.
Northern Ireland has more bank holidays than England. Ten against eight — St Patrick's Day on 17 March and the Battle of the Boyne in July. Both move payments in Northern Ireland and neither appears in most UK payment guides.

Ireland — every remaining bank holiday

Bank holidayWhat it isPayments due that day are paid
Monday 26 October 2026October Bank HolidayFriday 23 October 2026
Friday 25 December 2026Christmas DayThursday 24 December 2026
Monday 28 December 2026St Stephen's Day (substitute)Thursday 24 December 2026
Friday 1 January 2027New Year's DayThursday 31 December 2026
Monday 1 February 2027St Brigid's DayFriday 29 January 2027
Wednesday 17 March 2027St Patrick's DayTuesday 16 March 2027
Monday 29 March 2027Easter MondayFriday 26 March 2027
Monday 3 May 2027May Bank HolidayFriday 30 April 2027
Monday 7 June 2027June Bank HolidayFriday 4 June 2027
Monday 2 August 2027August Bank HolidayFriday 30 July 2027
Monday 25 October 2027October Bank HolidayFriday 22 October 2027
Monday 27 December 2027Christmas Day (substitute)Friday 24 December 2027
Tuesday 28 December 2027St Stephen's Day (substitute)Friday 24 December 2027

UK & Northern Ireland — remaining 2026 bank holidays

Bank holidayWhat it isPayments due that day are paid
Friday 25 December 2026Christmas DayThursday 24 December 2026
Monday 28 December 2026Boxing Day (substitute)Thursday 24 December 2026

UK bank holidays for 2027 are not listed here because gov.uk does not confirm them this far ahead. We will add them when it does, rather than guess at dates people would plan around.

Which payments does this affect?

Any payment whose due date lands on the holiday. In Ireland that most often means the weekly payments — State Pension on a Friday, Disability Allowance on a Wednesday, One-Parent Family Payment on a Thursday — and Child Benefit or Domiciliary Care Allowance when a monthly date happens to fall on one.

Some payments have no fixed day at all — Jobseeker's, Carer's Allowance, Illness Benefit and Working Family Payment are set by your office or your claim. We do not publish a day for those, because a wrong day costs somebody a trip to the post office. Check MyWelfare or your award letter. The full picture is on our payment dates checker.

For December, when several holidays land together and the Christmas Bonus is in play, see Christmas payment dates.

Common questions

Do you get paid early or late on a bank holiday?
Early. In Ireland a payment due on a public holiday is paid on the previous working day. In the UK and Northern Ireland a payment due on a bank holiday or weekend is paid on the last working day before it. You never lose a payment.
When is the next bank holiday and when will I be paid?
In Ireland the next public holiday is Monday 26 October 2026 (October Bank Holiday), and payments due that day are paid on Friday 23 October 2026. In the UK and Northern Ireland the next bank holiday is Friday 25 December 2026 (Christmas Day), with payments due that day paid on Thursday 24 December 2026.
Do I get paid twice or lose a payment?
Neither. The payment moves earlier and the following one returns to its normal day, so the early payment has to last longer rather than being an extra payment.
Does Northern Ireland have different bank holidays?
Yes. Northern Ireland has ten bank holidays to England's eight, including St Patrick's Day on 17 March and the Battle of the Boyne in July. Both move payments in Northern Ireland and are missing from most UK payment guides.
My payment was due on the bank holiday and hasn't arrived. What now?
Check the working day before the holiday first — that is when it should have been paid. If it is not there and the day has passed, contact your Intreo Centre in Ireland, or the office that pays you in the UK.
Do I get paid twice, or lose a payment?
Neither. The payment moves earlier and the next one returns to its usual day, so the early payment simply has to last longer.
Do I still have to sign on?
In Ireland, jobseekers do not sign on during a public holiday. Your office will tell you the arrangement for that week.
Does this apply to Child Benefit?
Child Benefit in Ireland generally lands as normal. It is paid on the first Tuesday of the month, so it only coincides with a holiday occasionally.
Sources

Public holiday dates from the official lists for Ireland and the UK, and the payment-shift rules as published by the Department of Social Protection and gov.uk. We only list holidays that have been confirmed — UK 2027 is left out for that reason. Payment days for individual schemes are only stated where a fixed day is confirmed at source.

General information, not financial advice. If a payment is genuinely missing, contact the office that pays you.