# 2019 Kilkenny County Council election

An election to all 24 seats on Kilkenny County Council was held on 24 May 2019 as part of the 2019 Irish local elections. County Kilkenny was divided into 4 local electoral areas (LEAs) to elect councillors for a five-year term of office on the electoral system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV).

## Boundary review

Following a recommendation of the 2018 Boundary Committee, the boundaries of the LEAs were altered from those used in the 2014 elections.

## Overview

Fianna Fáil gained 1 additional seat to increase their numbers to 11 while also increasing their vote by 4%. Fine Gael gained 2 seats and also increased their vote by 2%. Labour and the Greens retained their previous position but it was a disastrous election for Sinn Féin. The party lost all 3 seats, including Sean Tyrell, the partner of Kathleen Funchion TD and saw a significant drop in their vote-share. Breda Gardner, a sitting Independent who also contested the Ireland South European Parliament constituency unsuccessfully, failed to retain her seat.

## Results by party

| Party | Party | Seats | ± | 1st pref | FPv% | ±% |
| | Fianna Fáil | 11 | 1 | 15,895 | 41.11 | 3.91 |
| | Fine Gael | 9 | 2 | 12,410 | 32.10 | 2.20 |
| | Labour | 2 | | 2,915 | 7.54 | 3.66 |
| | Green | 1 | | 1,485 | 3.84 | 0.34 |
| | Sinn Féin | 0 | 3 | 2,458 | 6.36 | 3.54 |
| | People Before Profit | 0 | | 231 | 0.60 | New |
| | Independent | 1 | | 3,270 | 8.46 | 1.26 |
| Total | Total | 24 | | 38,664 | 100.00 | |

## Results by local electoral area

^ *: Outgoing councillor elected in 2014. ^ †: Outgoing councillor coopted subsequent to the 2014 election.

### Callan–Thomastown

Callan–Thomastown: 6 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| | Fianna Fáil | Peter "Chap" Cleere | 17.85% | 1,945 | | | | | | |
| | Fianna Fáil | Matt Doran | 16.88% | 1,839 | | | | | | |
| | Fine Gael | Patrick O'Neill | 12.84% | 1,399 | 1,436 | 1,452 | 1,456 | 1,482 | 1,515 | 1,581 |
| | Fine Gael | Michael Doyle | 12.65% | 1,378 | 1,490 | 1,496 | 1,504 | 1,528 | 1,567 | |
| | Fine Gael | Joe Lyons | 9.56% | 1,042 | 1,047 | 1,146 | 1,152 | 1,220 | 1,330 | 1,388 |
| | Fianna Fáil | Deirdre Cullen | 7.91% | 862 | 1,020 | 1,095 | 1,116 | 1,151 | 1,234 | 1,426 |
| | Independent | Breda Gardner | 7.54% | 821 | 851 | 863 | 886 | 997 | 1,070 | 1,315 |
| | Sinn Féin | David Kennedy | 6.68% | 728 | 746 | 759 | 768 | 789 | 838 | |
| | Independent | Trish Finegan | 3.35% | 365 | 369 | 392 | 406 | | | |
| | Independent | John Kelly | 3.32% | 362 | 380 | 392 | 445 | 511 | | |
| | Independent | Michael McGrath | 1.04% | 113 | 116 | 118 | | | | |
| | Independent | John Carroll | 0.38% | 41 | 44 | 46 | | | | |
| Electorate: 19,643 Valid: 10,895 Spoilt: 182 Quota: 1,557 Turnout: 11,077 (56.39%) |||||||||||

### Castlecomer

Castlecomer: 6 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| | Fianna Fáil | Pat Fitzpatrick | 22.21% | 2,249 | | | | |
| | Fine Gael | Mary Hilda Cavanagh | 16.66% | 1,687 | | | | |
| | Fianna Fáil | Michael McCarthy | 15.71% | 1,591 | | | | |
| | Fine Gael | John Brennan | 11.74% | 1,189 | 1,413 | 1,493 | | |
| | Labour | Denis Hynes | 10.84% | 1,098 | 1,175 | 1,190 | 1,201 | 1,403 |
| | Fianna Fáil | Michael Delaney | 9.73% | 985 | 1,340 | 1,416 | 1,520 | |
| | Fine Gael | Pat O'Neill | 8.09% | 819 | 911 | 964 | 980 | 1,049 |
| | Sinn Féin | Joseph Kavanagh | 5.01% | 507 | 561 | 577 | 590 | |
| Electorate: 19,146 Valid: 10,125 Spoilt: 233 Quota: 1,447 Turnout: 10,358 (54.1%) |||||||||

### Kilkenny

Kilkenny: 7 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| | Fianna Fáil | Andrew McGuinness | 19.40% | 1,860 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Green | Malcolm Noonan | 15.49% | 1,485 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Fianna Fáil | Joe Malone | 13.26% | 1,271 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Fine Gael | David Fitzgerald | 12.01% | 1,151 | 1,236 | | | | | | | | | |
| | Independent | Eugene McGuinness | 8.62% | 826 | 922 | 932 | 935 | 944 | 965 | 1,030 | 1,033 | 1,075 | 1,095 | 1,141 |
| | Fianna Fáil | John Coonan | 7.28% | 698 | 929 | 963 | 967 | 991 | 1,005 | 1,039 | 1,053 | 1,076 | 1,129 | 1,230 |
| | Sinn Féin | Sean Tyrrell | 5.72% | 548 | 616 | 632 | 641 | 649 | 666 | 689 | 691 | 760 | 813 | 836 |
| | Fine Gael | Martin Brett | 5.00% | 479 | 550 | 592 | 592 | 602 | 617 | 650 | 662 | 676 | 774 | 955 |
| | Fine Gael | Orla Kelly | 3.22% | 309 | 327 | 370 | 370 | 373 | 382 | 404 | 407 | 431 | | |
| | Labour | Andrea Cleere | 3.14% | 301 | 325 | 382 | 384 | 387 | 411 | 426 | 428 | 495 | 582 | |
| | Independent | Luke O'Connor | 2.46% | 236 | 252 | 266 | 273 | 284 | 301 | | | | | |
| | People Before Profit | Stephanie Hanlon | 2.41% | 231 | 258 | 298 | 300 | 302 | 349 | 370 | 371 | | | |
| | Independent | Enya Kennedy | 1.68% | 161 | 184 | 210 | 216 | 218 | | | | | | |
| | Independent | Noel Gerard Walsh | 0.32% | 31 | 33 | 37 | | | | | | | | |
| Electorate: 19,337 Valid: 9,587 Spoilt: 155 Quota: 1,199 Turnout: 9,742 (50.38%) |||||||||||||||

### Piltown

Piltown: 5 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| | Fine Gael | Pat Dunphy | 19.60% | 1,579 | | | | | |
| | Labour | Tomás Breathnach | 18.82% | 1,516 | | | | | |
| | Fine Gael | Fidelis Doherty | 13.14% | 1,059 | 1,118 | 1,145 | 1,147 | 1,284 | 1,356 |
| | Fianna Fáil | Eamon Aylward | 12.57% | 1,013 | 1,065 | 1,106 | 1,112 | 1,164 | 1,432 |
| | Fianna Fáil | Ger Frisby | 12.04% | 970 | 984 | 1,010 | 1,017 | 1,143 | 1,246 |
| | Sinn Féin | Grace Doyle | 8.38% | 675 | 690 | 720 | 730 | 859 | 950 |
| | Fianna Fáil | Rob Duggan | 7.60% | 612 | 667 | 681 | 686 | 714 | |
| | Fine Gael | John Hayes | 3.96% | 319 | 345 | 363 | 365 | | |
| | Independent | Melissa O'Neill | 2.89% | 233 | 241 | 253 | 291 | | |
| | Independent | Alan Curran | 1.01% | 81 | 88 | 93 | | | |
| Electorate: 16,125 Valid: 8,057 Spoilt: 130 Quota: 1,343 Turnout: 8,187 (50.77%) ||||||||||

### Footnotes

* 1 2 3 See change below.

## Results by gender

2019 Kilkenny County Council election Candidates by gender :
| Gender | Number of candidates | % of candidates | Elected councillors | % of councillors |
| Men | 33 | 75.0% | 21 | 87.5% |
| Women | 11 | 25.0% | 3 | 12.5% |
| TOTAL | 44 | | 24 | |

## Changes after 2019
### Co-options

| Party | Party | Outgoing | LEA | Reason | Date | Co-optee |
| | Green | Malcolm Noonan | Kilkenny | Elected to the 33rd Dáil for Carlow–Kilkenny at the 2020 general election | 24 February 2020 | Maria Dollard |

### Changes in affiliation

| Name | LEA | Elected as | Elected as | New affiliation | New affiliation | Date |
| Martin Brett | Kilkenny | | Independent | | Fine Gael | August 2020 |
| Denis Hynes | Castlecomer | | Labour | | Sinn Féin | November 2021 |

## Sources

* "Kilkenny County Council - Local Election candidates". RTÉ. 13 May 2019. Archived from the original on 17 September 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
* "2019 Election Website". Kilkenny County Council. Archived from the original on 20 June 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
* "Local Elections 2019: Results, Transfer of Votes and Statistics" (PDF). Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (DHPLG). pp. 136–139. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.