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Easter

Easter 2025, 2026 and 2027

Easter is one of the most celebrated of all holidays in Ireland, with the Easter season starting with Ash Wednesday at the start of Lent, and culminating in Easter Sunday celebrations and a public holiday the day afterward.

Good Friday will be observed on 18 April in 2025 with Easter Sunday celebrations two days later on 20 April. In 2026, Easter Sunday falls earlier in the month on 5 April.

YearDateDayHoliday
202521 AprMonEaster Monday
20266 AprMonEaster Monday
202729 MarMonEaster Monday
Please scroll down to end of page for previous years' dates.

The date of Easter differs each year due to it being calculated from the lunar cycle. According to a 1700 year-old system formalised at the First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, Easter Sunday falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon that occurs on or after 21 March (the ecclesiastical vernal equinox). This means the date of Easter Sunday can be anytime between 22 March and 25 April each year, and explains why Easter is so late in 2025 compared to other recent years.

Holy Week from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday is an important time for many in this predominantly Catholic country with Easter Sunday dawn masses drawing the most worshippers of the season.

Apart from church-centered activities, the highlight of the season is often the family meal on Easter Sunday. Other activities and events of note include:

  • Easter egg hunts, such as the one at Greenan Maze in Wicklow. The one who finds a golden egg wins a prize, besides getting to eat the egg itself. There are many other egg hunts as well, such as the one at Ardgillan Castle in Dublin.
  • The state ceremony outside the GPO in Dublin that commemorates the Easter Rising of 1916. The Easter Rising triggered a series of events eventually leading to an independent Irish republic.

Previous Years

YearDateDayHoliday
20241 AprMonEaster Monday
202310 AprMonEaster Monday