Kilkenny County Council

Kilkenny County Council Comhairle Contae Chill Chainnigh
Type
Type	County council
Leadership
Cathaoirleach	Matt Doran, FF
Structure
Seats	24
Political groups	Fianna Fáil (9)      Fine Gael (7)      Sinn Féin (2)      Labour Party (2)      Green Party (1)      Independent (3)
Elections
Last election	23 May 2014
Meeting place
County Hall, Kilkenny
Website
www.kilkennycoco.ie

Kilkenny County Council (Irish: Comhairle Contae Chill Chainnigh) is the authority responsible for local government in County Kilkenny, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and community, roads and transportation, urban planning and development, amenity and culture, and environment. The council has 24 elected members. Elections are held every five years and are by single transferable vote. The head of the council has the title of Cathaoirleach (Chairperson). The county administration is headed by a Chief Executive, Colette Byrne. The county town is Kilkenny city.

This structure is a modified version of the system introduced in 1898, with county boroughs renamed as cities, urban districts and municipal boroughs renamed as towns or boroughs, and rural districts abolished (everywhere except County Dublin in 1925, and in County Dublin in 1930). The distinction between urban district and "towns with town commissioners" has been abolished.

The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 marked the beginning of the system of local government. The first elections were held in Kilkenny until Thursday 6 April 1899 at a cost of £1,268. The first meeting of Kilkenny County Council took place on Saturday 22 April 1899 in the Courthouse, Kilkenny. The very first resolution passed expressed the demand for Home Rule. The Rural District Councils were responsible for housing, sanitary and local roads in their areas, while in their role as Boards of Guardians they were responsible for what we would now call health services.