WHAT IS A BANK HOLIDAY?
In the United Kingdom and Ireland a bank holiday is a public holiday, when banks and many other businesses are closed for the day.
Bank holidays are often assumed to be so called because they are days upon which banks are shut, but days that banks are shut aren't always bank holidays. For example: Good Friday and Christmas Day are not bank holidays, they are common law' holidays. The dates for bank holidays are set out in statute or are proclaimed by royal decree. The term "bank holiday" was coined by Sir John Lubbock, who felt there was a need to differentiate the two types of holiday.