What time is it in Ireland?
GMT / GMT+1 · Europe/Dublin
Back to IrelandNow in Dublin
GMT UTC+00:00
UTC+00:00
UTC+01:00 in summerGreenwich Mean Time
Ireland keeps Greenwich Mean Time from the last Sunday in October and Irish Standard Time, one hour ahead of UTC, from the last Sunday in March. Irish law counts the year the other way round from its EU partners: the Standard Time Act 1968 made UTC+1 the standard time, and an amending act of 1971 carved out GMT as a winter period. The state has a single zone, Europe/Dublin, and its clocks read the same as those in Northern Ireland and Great Britain.
Today
Daylight in Dublin today
DayLive
12:00
- Sunrise
- 07:20First light 06:45
- Sunset
- 19:11Last light 19:45
- Day length
- 11 h 51 min−4 min on yesterday
- Solar noon
- 13:15Sun at 35°, its highest
Plan a call
Find an hour that works in Ireland and elsewhere
The two rows are the same day, hour for hour. Pick a city, then an hour, and the line between the rows marks the office hours both sides share.
Time difference
How far Ireland is from other places
Neighbours
- United KingdomLondonSame time
Around the world
- New York−5 h
- Los Angeles−8 h
- São Paulo−4 h
- Moscow+2 h
- Dubai+3 h
- Delhi+4:30 h
- Beijing+7 h
- Tokyo+8 h
- Sydney+9 h
Clock changes
When the clocks change in Ireland
Next change
Sunday, 25 October 2026
Clocks go back one hour: at 02:00 it becomes 01:00 GMT, UTC+00:00. The night is an hour longer.
| Year | Clocks go forward | Clocks go back |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 29 March 01:00 → 02:00 | 25 October 02:00 → 01:00 |
| 2027 | 28 March 01:00 → 02:00 | 31 October 02:00 → 01:00 |
| 2028 | 26 March 01:00 → 02:00 | 29 October 02:00 → 01:00 |
| 2029 | 25 March 01:00 → 02:00 | 28 October 02:00 → 01:00 |
| 2030 | 31 March 01:00 → 02:00 | 27 October 02:00 → 01:00 |
Before 1916 Ireland ran on Dublin Mean Time, the local time at Dunsink Observatory outside Dublin, about 25 minutes behind Greenwich. Summer time arrived in May 1916 as a wartime measure across the United Kingdom, and the Time (Ireland) Act 1916 moved the country onto Greenwich time on 1 October that year. The Irish Free State granted summer time year by year in 1923 and 1924, then on a standing basis under the Summer Time Act 1925. The time zone database has Ireland one hour ahead of GMT all year from 1941 to 1945, and again during the experiment that began in 1968 and was undone in 1971. When European directives took over the dates, Ireland and the United Kingdom ended summer time on the fourth Sunday in October while the continental members ended in September, until 1996 put everyone on October.
The European Parliament voted on 26 March 2019 to end seasonal clock changes, but the Council of the European Union had still not approved the proposal as of March 2026. Ireland announced its opposition in July 2019. A Department of Justice poll found 82% of the public against different times in Ireland and Northern Ireland, which would follow if the EU stopped changing clocks and the United Kingdom did not.
Daylight
Sunrise and sunset through the year in Dublin
- Sunrise
- 07:20
- Sunset
- 19:11
- Daylight
- 11 h 51 min
- Change
- −4 min
Longest day of 2026: 21 June, 17 h 01 min.
Computed for 53.35, -6.26 at sea level with the NOAA solar equations, to the nearest minute, taking no account of hills.
Writing the time
- Clock
- 24-hour
- Short date
- 05/03/2026
- Long date
- 5 March 2026
- Week starts
- Monday
- Zone names
- GMT / GMT+1
- Time zone database
- Dublin
History
How the clocks in Ireland got here
- 1890
- To 1915.Local mean time, UTC-00:25, before the standard zone.
- 1916
- Clocks on UTC-00:25, UTC+00:00, UTC+00:34 at different times of the year.
- 1917
- To 1939.UTC+00:00 in winter, UTC+01:00 in summer time.
- 1940
- UTC+00:00 in winter, UTC+01:00 in summer time.
- 1941
- To 1945.Summer time kept through the winter: UTC+01:00 all year.
- 1946
- UTC+00:00 in winter, UTC+01:00 in summer time.
- 1947
- To 1967.UTC+00:00 in winter, UTC+01:00 in summer time.
- 1968
- UTC+00:00 in winter, UTC+01:00 in summer time.
- 1969
- To 1970.Summer time kept through the winter: UTC+01:00 all year.
- 1971
- UTC+00:00 in winter, UTC+01:00 in summer time.
- 1972
- To today.UTC+00:00 in winter, UTC+01:00 in summer time.
From the IANA time zone database, Europe/Dublin, as the build machine carries it.
Common questions
Questions about the time in Ireland
What time zone is Ireland in?
Greenwich Mean Time, UTC+0, in winter and Irish Standard Time, UTC+1, from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October. The whole state keeps one zone, listed in the time zone database as Europe/Dublin. The clock in Dublin matches the one in Belfast, London and Lisbon all year.
When do the clocks change in Ireland in 2026?
Clocks went forward on Sunday 29 March 2026, from 01:00 GMT to 02:00 IST, and go back on Sunday 25 October, from 02:00 IST to 01:00 GMT. A year later the Sundays shift to 28 March and 31 October 2027. The change happens at the same instant across the European Union, which is 01:00 UTC.
Why is summer time in Ireland called Irish Standard Time?
Because in law it is the standard. The Standard Time Act 1968 fixed the time for general purposes in the state at one hour ahead of Greenwich mean time throughout the year. When the clock change came back, the Standard Time (Amendment) Act 1971 left that definition alone and created a separate winter time, observed at GMT. So Ireland spends its winters one hour behind its own statutory standard time, where other EU members spend their summers one hour ahead of theirs. The clocks end up in the same place either way. Calling IST Irish Summer Time is a common slip.
Why did Dublin keep a different time from London before 1916?
The Statutes (Definition of Time) Act 1880 made Dublin Mean Time the legal time in Ireland: the local mean time at Dunsink Observatory, about 25 minutes 21 seconds behind Greenwich. After the Easter Rising the gap was judged awkward for telegraph traffic, and the Time (Ireland) Act 1916 put Ireland on British time from 02:00 Dublin time on 1 October 1916, the same night summer time ended.
Will Ireland stop changing the clocks?
Not while the EU proposal stays stalled, and Ireland is against it. The European Parliament voted to end the seasonal change in March 2019, but the Council of the European Union had not approved it by March 2026. In July 2019 the Irish government said it would oppose the plan, because the United Kingdom was not expected to follow and Northern Ireland would end up an hour apart from the rest of the island for half of every year.
Has Ireland ever kept the same time all year?
Twice, by the time zone database. From 1941 to 1945 the clock stayed at GMT+1 through the winter. From 1968 the country tried standard time, GMT+1, all year as a run-up to joining the EEC in 1973, which put it level with the six EEC countries of the time, apart from Italy in summer. The experiment was undone in 1971 and the winter change back to GMT returned.
Is the clock in Ireland ahead of the sun?
Yes, even in winter. About two-thirds of the state lies west of 7.5 degrees west, so local solar time across most of Ireland is nearer UTC-1 than GMT. A private member's bill of 2012 proposed a three-year trial of Central European Time, and that switch would put the clock about 90 minutes ahead of the sun on average.