August is Ireland's busiest month, with 15.2% of 2025's tourist nights, and January the quietest, with 3.3%. July and August together carried 28.5% of the year, making Ireland the 18th most seasonal of 35 European countries we measured. September was quieter than June, at 7.5% against 12.1%.
Ireland, month by month
- Two busiest months
- Other months
When is Ireland busiest, and when is it quietest?
August was the busiest month in 2025, with 15.2% of the year's tourist nights. January was the quietest, with 3.3%. That makes August 4.7 times as busy as January.1
Seven months each carried less than an average month's share of 8.3%: January, February, March, April, September, November and December.
Who stays in Ireland: residents or guests from abroad?
In 2025, guests living abroad spent 59.0% of Ireland's tourist nights. Residents of Ireland spent the rest.1
- Highest share from abroad
- Other months
The share from abroad was highest in September, at 73.0% of that month's nights, and lowest in February, at 46.5%.1
Residents spent more than half of the month's nights in January and February. Guests from abroad spent more than half in March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December.
Eurostat counts guests by the country they live in, not by nationality.2
How seasonal is Ireland compared with the rest of Europe?
July and August together carried 28.5% of Ireland's nights. Ranked by that share, Ireland is the 18th most seasonal of the 35 European countries we measured, where 1 is the country most concentrated into its two busiest months.1
For comparison, the most seasonal country on this measure was Croatia at 54.5%, and the least seasonal was Malta at 21.8%. See all 35 countries ranked.
How full are Ireland's hotels each month?
Hotel rooms were fullest in June and August, when 86.0% were in use, and emptiest in January, at 52.0%.3
- Fullest month
- Other months
This is Eurostat's net occupancy rate of bedrooms: bedrooms in use divided by bedrooms available. It covers hotels and similar places only, not campsites or holiday lets, so it can peak in a different month from the nights figures above.2
How long do guests stay in Ireland?
Guests stayed an average of 3.3 nights each time they checked in at tourist accommodation in Ireland in 2025: 41,905,902 nights across 12,574,500 arrivals.4 Across the 33 countries on this site with complete figures, the average ran from 1.5 nights in Iceland to 4.7 in Cyprus.4
This is our division of Eurostat's two counts. Eurostat counts an arrival each time a guest checks in at a place to stay, so a traveller who moves between places is counted more than once, and a whole trip is longer than the figure suggests.2
Did accommodation in Ireland get more expensive in 2025?
On Eurostat's harmonised index of consumer prices, prices of accommodation services in Ireland were 0.5% higher on average in 2025 than in 2024. Across the EU the rise was 4.1%.5
This measures how prices changed, not what a stay costs, so check the current price when you book. Accommodation services cover hotels, motels and inns; holiday centres, campsites and youth hostels; and other places to stay.
What are Ireland's public holidays in 2026 and 2027?
In Ireland, public holidays fall on 10 days in both 2026 and 2027.6 In 2026, 1 of those days is a Saturday or Sunday.6 Good Friday is not a public holiday in Ireland.
| Holiday | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| New Year's Day New Year's Day (1st January) | Thu 1 January | Fri 1 January |
| St Brigid's Day First Monday in February | Mon 2 February | Mon 1 February |
| St Patrick's Day St. Patrick's Day (17th March) | Tue 17 March | Wed 17 March |
| Easter Monday | Mon 6 April | Mon 29 March |
| May bank holiday First Monday in May | Mon 4 May | Mon 3 May |
| June bank holiday First Monday in June | Mon 1 June | Mon 7 June |
| August bank holiday First Monday in August | Mon 3 August | Mon 2 August |
| October bank holiday Last Monday in October | Mon 26 October | Mon 25 October |
| Christmas Day Christmas Day (25th December) | Fri 25 December | Sat 25 December |
| St Stephen's Day St. Stephen's Day (26th December) | Sat 26 December | Sun 26 December |
We took these from the law or the government's own list, not from a holiday website, and worked out the dates that move each year, such as Easter, from the rules in the law. The dates match the European Commission's list of public holidays for 2026.7 Regional and local holidays are not included.
What is the weather like in Dublin each month?
Averaged over 1991–2020, the DublinAirport weather station, which we use for Dublin, is warmest in July, with an average high of 19.5 °C, and coldest in February, with an average low of 2.2 °C. Its wettest month is November (83 mm of rain on average) and its driest March (51 mm).8
In January, Ireland's quietest month, the station's average high is 8.0 °C and its average low 2.3 °C, with 62 mm of rain. In August, the busiest, the average high is 19.1 °C.8
In January the station averages 12.5 days with at least 1 mm of rain.8 On 15 January the sun is up for about 8 h 5 min there, against 14 h 50 min on 15 August.9
| Month | Average high | Average low | Rain | Rainy days | Daylight on the 15th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8.0 °C | 2.3 °C | 62 mm | 12.5 days | 8 h 5 min |
| February | 8.5 °C | 2.2 °C | 52 mm | 11.0 days | 9 h 50 min |
| March | 10.1 °C | 3.0 °C | 51 mm | 10.7 days | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 12.3 °C | 4.0 °C | 55 mm | 11.1 days | 14 h |
| May | 14.8 °C | 6.6 °C | 57 mm | 10.5 days | 15 h 55 min |
| June | 17.7 °C | 9.0 °C | 64 mm | 9.8 days | 17 h |
| July | 19.5 °C | 11.3 °C | 61 mm | 11.6 days | 16 h 30 min |
| August | 19.1 °C | 11.2 °C | 73 mm | 11.8 days | 14 h 50 min |
| September | 16.9 °C | 9.5 °C | 63 mm | 10.7 days | 12 h 45 min |
| October | 13.6 °C | 7.1 °C | 78 mm | 11.6 days | 10 h 35 min |
| November | 10.3 °C | 4.3 °C | 83 mm | 12.5 days | 8 h 40 min |
| December | 8.3 °C | 2.6 °C | 72 mm | 13.3 days | 7 h 30 min |
Thirty-year averages from one weather station, DublinAirport, which we use for Dublin. They describe a typical year at that station, not a forecast, and weather varies across Ireland. A rainy day is one with at least 1 mm of rain. The source has no complete sunshine figures for this station, so we show none. Daylight is not measured: it is our calculation of the time from sunrise to sunset.
June or September? May or October?
September was quieter than June, at 7.5% against 12.1%.
October was quieter than May, at 8.9% against 9.7%.
These compare months at similar distances from the summer peak. For typical weather in Dublin, see the weather section.
What these figures cannot tell you
These figures are good at one thing: showing when a country's registered tourist accommodation fills up. Four things they cannot do.
They miss some small places. The counts cover hotels, holiday and short-stay accommodation and campsites, but countries may exclude establishments with fewer than ten bed places, so small guesthouses can be missing.2
Nights are not queues. A national monthly total cannot see how busy one old town, beach or museum is on a given day.
Tourist nights say nothing about weather or prices. The weather section uses 30-year averages from one station, not a forecast. The price section shows how accommodation prices changed, not what a stay costs.
They are one year. These are 2025 figures. Patterns shift from year to year, and Eurostat revises its data as countries update their returns.
The full year
| Month | Share of year | Nights | From abroad |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.3% | 1,363,239 | 48.0% |
| February | 3.7% | 1,565,952 | 46.5% |
| March | 5.4% | 2,257,395 | 67.4% |
| April | 6.9% | 2,911,468 | 58.4% |
| May | 9.7% | 4,084,228 | 59.4% |
| June | 12.1% | 5,080,198 | 61.2% |
| July (one of the two busiest months) | 13.3% | 5,592,583 | 51.4% |
| August (one of the two busiest months) | 15.2% | 6,362,404 | 52.7% |
| September | 7.5% | 3,149,897 | 73.0% |
| October | 8.9% | 3,711,381 | 60.4% |
| November | 6.2% | 2,592,812 | 57.8% |
| December | 7.7% | 3,234,345 | 71.4% |
Total for 2025: 41,905,902 nights, 59.0% of them by guests living abroad. The two busiest months are marked. "From abroad" is the share of that month's nights spent by guests living outside Ireland.
Key takeaways
- January was Ireland's quietest month in 2025, with 3.3% of the year's tourist nights.
- July and August were the busiest, carrying 28.5% of the year between them.
- Ireland ranks 18 of 35 European countries for seasonal concentration, where 1 is the most concentrated.
- Guests living abroad spent 59.0% of Ireland's 2025 tourist nights; residents spent the rest.
- Hotel rooms were fullest in June and August (86.0% in use) and emptiest in January (52.0%).
- Public holidays in Ireland fall on 10 days in both 2026 and 2027.
- September was quieter than June, at 7.5% against 12.1%.
- What we would skip: assuming every shoulder month is equally quiet. In Ireland, June carried 12.1% of the year's nights against September's 7.5%.
Sources
The tourism and hotel figures on this page come from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, which receives them from each country's national statistical authority. The weather averages come from the World Meteorological Organization's 1991–2020 climate normals, published by the US National Centers for Environmental Information. We downloaded the data directly and calculated the shares, rankings and comparisons ourselves. See how we research.
- Source: Eurostat, Nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments – monthly data, doi:10.2908/TOUR_OCC_NIM, accessed 25 September 2026. Dataset last updated by Eurostat on 22 September 2026. Extract: number of nights, NACE codes I55.1–I55.3, all guests and split by guests resident in the country and abroad, January–December 2025.
- Eurostat, Tourist accommodation reference metadata, on collection by national authorities under Regulation (EU) 692/2011, the definition of a night spent, country of residence, and the ten-bed-place threshold. Read it. Checked 17 September 2026.
- Source: Eurostat, Net occupancy rate of bed-places and bedrooms in hotels and similar accommodation – monthly data, doi:10.2908/TOUR_OCC_MNOR, accessed 22 September 2026. Extract: bedrooms, percentage, January–December 2025.
- Source: Eurostat, Arrivals at tourist accommodation establishments – monthly data, doi:10.2908/TOUR_OCC_ARM, with the nights data (tour_occ_nim), accessed 25 September 2026. Extract: number of arrivals and nights, NACE codes I55.1–I55.3, all guests, January–December 2025. Average stay is our calculation: nights divided by arrivals.
- Source: Eurostat, HICP – annual data (average index and rate of change), doi:10.2908/PRC_HICP_AIND, accessed 22 September 2026. Extract: accommodation services (COICOP CP112), annual average rate of change, 2025.
- Public holidays: Workplace Relations Commission, Public Holidays. Read it. Accessed 23 September 2026.
- European Commission, Public holidays 2026, Official Journal of the European Union C/2025/6771, ELI. Used only as a cross-check. Accessed 23 September 2026.
- Weather: WMO Member Nations (2023). WMO Climatological Standard Normals for 1991-2020 (NCEI Accession 0253808), station DublinAirport (station ID 00003969), mean daily maximum and minimum temperature, precipitation and number of days with at least 1 mm of precipitation, normals computed from at least 24 years. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. doi:10.25921/800j-vn07. Accessed 22 September 2026. Released by NOAA under CC0.
- Daylight: our calculation of the time from sunrise to sunset on the 15th of each month of 2026 at the weather station's location, by the method of the NOAA Solar Calculator (NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory, “Solar Calculation Details”, based on Jean Meeus, Astronomical Algorithms, allowing 0.833° for refraction and the size of the sun). Read it. Checked 22 September 2026. NOAA notes that calculated times can differ from what is observed.
Modified data. The monthly shares, residence shares, rankings and comparisons are our own calculations from Eurostat's counts. Percentages are rounded to one decimal place, so they may not add exactly. Eurostat bears no responsibility for these calculations or for how the figures are presented here. Rainfall is rounded to the nearest millimetre; temperatures are shown as published.