I know some lenders have that option, but you have to ask for it, and believe you pay for it. With PTSB I think it's call TAKE4, and you can take up to four months at the beggining of your mortgage. With BOI, you have the option to do 11 or 10 repayments a year instead of 12 to accomodate those months with extra expenses (hols and xmas)