The shortest day of 2026 is Monday, 21 December
Dublin gets 7 hours 30 minutes of daylight. The winter solstice is at about 20:50, and from then the days get longer again.
- Sunrise in Dublin
- 08:39
- Sunset in Dublin
- 16:09
- Daylight
- 7h 30m
Across Ireland on the day
The north gets the least light. Derry has 7 hours 10 minutes, 35 minutes less than Cork. Sunrise and sunset both come about 13 minutes later in Killarney than in Wexford.
| Town | Sunrise | Sunset | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Derry | 08:53 | 16:03 | 7h 10m |
| Letterkenny | 08:54 | 16:05 | 7h 11m |
| Belfast | 08:45 | 16:00 | 7h 15m |
| Sligo | 08:53 | 16:12 | 7h 19m |
| Dundalk | 08:43 | 16:05 | 7h 22m |
| Athlone | 08:46 | 16:15 | 7h 29m |
| Dublin | 08:39 | 16:09 | 7h 30m |
| Galway | 08:49 | 16:20 | 7h 31m |
| Kilkenny | 08:39 | 16:16 | 7h 37m |
| Limerick | 08:44 | 16:22 | 7h 38m |
| Wexford | 08:34 | 16:15 | 7h 41m |
| Waterford | 08:36 | 16:18 | 7h 42m |
| Killarney | 08:45 | 16:29 | 7h 44m |
| Cork | 08:40 | 16:25 | 7h 45m |
The evenings turn before the mornings
Sunset in Dublin is earliest around 13 December, at 16:07, so the evenings are already getting brighter by the shortest day. The mornings keep getting darker until around 29 December, when the sun rises at 08:41. The shortest day sits between the two.
How quickly the light comes back
| In Dublin on | Daylight | More than on 21 December |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January | 7h 36m | 0h 06m |
| 1 February | 8h 57m | 1h 27m |
| 1 March | 10h 49m | 3h 19m |
The longest day, Monday, 21 June 2027, has 9 hours 31 minutes more daylight in Dublin.
Questions
When is the shortest day of the year in Ireland?
Monday, 21 December 2026. The winter solstice is at about 20:50 that evening, and Dublin gets 7 hours 30 minutes of daylight.
Is the shortest day always 21 December?
Usually, but not always. It falls on 21 December 2026, 22 December 2027, 21 December 2028, 21 December 2029 and 21 December 2030.
When do the evenings start getting longer?
From around 13 December, when Dublin's sunset is at its earliest, 16:07. That is before the shortest day, not after it.
When do the mornings start getting brighter?
Not until around 29 December, when sunrise in Dublin is at its latest, 08:41. Mornings keep getting darker for 8 days after the shortest day.
What happens at Newgrange on the shortest day?
For a few mornings around the winter solstice, the rising sun shines along the passage and into the chamber at Newgrange in County Meath. The tomb was built more than 5,000 years ago, and lined up with that sunrise on purpose.
Sunrise and sunset in Ireland today · When the clocks change · Where it is day and night right now