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How to turn 20 days of leave into 53 days off in 2027 in Ireland

With 20 days of annual leave and the 8 weekday public holidays in Ireland, you can have 53 days off in 2027 across 11 breaks, including 9 days at St Patrick's Day and 9 days at May Bank Holiday. These are the exact days to book, assuming you work Monday to Friday and plan from January to December.

Dates from Citizens Information, checked 26 October 2026. Updated 26 October 2026.

The best value days to book

One day of leave next to a public holiday weekend goes furthest. Book these first:

The 20-day plan, break by break

11 breaks, at least two weeks apart, using 20 days of leave. Total: 53 days off.

• Leave to book
• Public holiday
• Weekend

More or less leave?

Leave on top of the public holidays, planned the same way: two breaks of nine days or more, the rest long weekends.

Long weekends or big trips?

Your leave in Ireland

• Most employees are entitled to 4 working weeks' of annual leave each year. This is set out in the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 (as amended) and is known as your statutory entitlement. Source
• Annual leave is the greater of: 4 working weeks in a leave year in which the employee works at least 1,365 hours (not if they changed employment that year); 1/3 of a working week per calendar month in which the employee works at least 117 hours; or 8% of the hours worked in the leave year (up to 4 working weeks). The statutory maximum is four normal working weeks. Source
• The statutory leave year runs from 1 April to 31 March. Many employers use the calendar year (January to December) instead of the statutory leave year for administrative reasons but this does not affect your statutory leave entitlements. Source
• If you have worked for at least 8 months, you are entitled to an unbroken period of 2 weeks' annual leave. Source
• The employer decides when annual leave is taken, having regard to work requirements, the employee's family responsibilities and opportunities for rest, and must consult the employee (or their union) at least 1 month before the leave starts (Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, s. 20(1)). Source
• There are 10 public holidays in Ireland each year (increased from 9 in 2022). Source

How this is worked out

• A break counts every day from your first day off to your last, weekends and public holidays included.
• Public holiday dates are the official ones for Ireland, checked on 26 October 2026. A holiday that falls at a weekend only counts where the official list moves it to a weekday. Ireland's list doesn't, so this plan doesn't count the next working day off after one (Monday 27 December and Tuesday 28 December in 2027). If your employer gives it, turn on “I get the next working day off” in Leave Hacker.
• Only work days in 2027 are booked. A break can run into January 2028 on free days, but never on next year's leave.
• Breaks are kept at least two weeks apart, so the year doesn't turn into one long run of Fridays.
• It's the same optimiser the Leave Hacker app uses, checked by tests against the app's own numbers.