Bank holiday

A bank holiday is the name used for a public holiday in both the United Kingdom, Ireland, and some other Commonwealth countries. The UK started using bank holidays in 1871.

List of bank holidays

The below is a list of such holidays in the United Kingdom and Ireland. An "X" underneath a country's name means that country uses that date as a bank holiday

Current bank and public holidays
Date Name England and Wales Scotland Northern Ireland Republic of Ireland
    8 9 10 9
1 January New Year's Day X X X X
2 January 2 January X
17 March St. Patrick's Day X X
The Friday before Easter Sunday Good Friday X X X
The day after Easter Sunday Easter Monday X X X
First Monday in May¹ Early May Bank Holiday (UK), Labour Day (Ireland) X X X X
Last Monday in May² Spring Bank Holiday X X X
First Monday In June June Bank Holiday X
12 July Battle of the Boyne - Orangemen's Day X
First Monday in August Summer Bank Holiday X X
Last Monday in August Summer Bank Holiday X X
Last Monday in October October Bank Holiday X
30 November St. Andrew's Day X
25 December Christmas Day X X X X
26 December Boxing Day, St. Stephen's Day X X X X
  1. For one year only, 1995, this holiday was moved to the second Monday in May – i.e., from 1 May to 8 May – to commemorate the 50th anniversary of VE Day.
  2. For one year only, 2002, this holiday was moved to 4 June. This caused it to follow an extra bank holiday on 3 June, making a four-day weekend to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II.

In other countries

India has 15 bank holidays

Hong Kong calls public holidays "bank holidays", even though they are not officially called that.