Carlow County Council

Carlow County Council (Comhairle Chontae Cheatharlach) is the local authority of County Carlow, 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 18 elected members. The head of the council has the title of Cathaoirleach (chairperson). The county administration is headed by a chief executive, Kathleen Holohan. The county town is Carlow.

History
Carlow County Council was established on 1 April 1899 under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 for the administrative county of County Carlow. That included the judicial county of Carlow and the part of County Laois (then called Queen's County) containing the town of Carlow.

Before 1925, the chair of each rural district council sat as an ex officio member of the council. Under the Local Government Act 1925, rural district councils in Ireland were abolished and their functions transferred to the county councils. In County Carlow, these were the districts of Baltinglass No. 2, Carlow and Idrone. The number of members of the county council increased from 20 to 26.

In 1942, in an order under the Local Government Act 1941, the number of councillors was reduced to 21. This figure was restated by the Local Government Act 2001.

In November 2012, Phil Hogan, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, appointed a Local Electoral Area Boundary Committee to review the allocation of seats and the local electoral areas across local authorities. In the case of Carlow County Council, it recommended a decrease to 18 seats. This was implemented by the Local Government Reform Act 2014. In addition, all town councils in Ireland were abolished and their functions transferred to the county councils. In County Carlow, these were the town councils of Carlow and Muinebheag.

The council originally met in Carlow Courthouse. The council established their County Secretary's Office at 1 Athy Road in the former offices and printing works of the Carlow Sentinel which ceased publication after the First World War. The council subsequently moved further north along Athy Road into modern premises which are now known as the County Buildings.

Regional Assembly
Carlow County Council has two representatives on the Southern Regional Assembly who are part of the South-East Strategic Planning Area Committee.

Elections
Members of Carlow County Council are elected for a five-year term of office on the electoral system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote from multi-member local electoral areas.

Local electoral areas and municipal districts
County Carlow is divided into three local electoral areas, defined by electoral divisions, each of which also forms a municipal district.

Current councillors
The following were elected at the 2024 Carlow County Council election.

Councillors by electoral area
This list reflects the order in which councillors were elected on 7 June 2024.