May Day – Ireland

The next May Day is on Monday, May 3, 2027 – in 230 days.

In Ireland it's a public holiday, so schools, government offices and most businesses close.

When is it? May Day falls on the 1st Monday of May. Because the rule points at a weekday rather than a fixed date, it moves every year, which is exactly why the table below is worth a bookmark. Next time round is Monday, May 3, 2027, 230 days from now.

Which weekday does it land on? Always the same day: every one of the eleven years in the table puts May Day on a Monday. In eleven of those it sits next to a weekend, turning it into a three-day break. Those are the years to book early. You can open the printable calendar for any year in the table and see the date in context.

What to expect on the day. Banks, government offices and schools close. Supermarkets and larger shops usually open on reduced hours, smaller independents often don't bother, and public transport tends to run a Sunday timetable. Post isn't collected or delivered. If you need something from a council, a bank or a doctor's surgery, the working day before it is the one to aim for, and it will be busier than usual for exactly that reason. In 2027 it falls in May, and nothing else of note shares the month with it.

Putting it in your own calendar. You don't need to. Every calendar on this site already shows May Day for whichever country you've selected. What's worth adding is everything around it: the travel, the cover arrangements, who's visiting when. Open the month, click the days and type. Keep a free account and the notes stay with you between devices, and you can send someone a read-only link so you're both working from the same dates.

May Day is marked in Sweden and Finland as well. The date and the way it's observed aren't always the same from one country to the next, so use the links below to get the version that applies to you.

May Day dates 2026–2036