# 1985 Kerry County Council election

An election to Kerry County Council took place on 20 June 1985 as part of that year's Irish local elections. 27 councillors were elected from five local electoral areas (LEAs) for a five-year term of office on the electoral system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV). This term was extended for a further year, to 1991.

## Results by party

| Party | Party | Seats | ± | First Pref. votes | FPv% | ±% |
| | Fianna Fáil | 13 | 1 | 30,011 | 46.72 | 2.02 |
| | Fine Gael | 7 | | 15,401 | 23.98 | 4.07 |
| | Labour | 3 | 1 | 7,095 | 11.05 | 1.44 |
| | Sinn Féin | 0 | 1 | 3,381 | 5.26 | 0.11 |
| | Workers' Party | 0 | | 1,569 | 2.44 | 0.55 |
| | Independent | 4 | 2 | 6,776 | 10.55 | 2.82 |
| Totals | Totals | 27 | 1 | 64,233 | 100.00 | |

## Results by local electoral area
### Killarney

Killarney: 6 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| | Fianna Fáil | John O'Leary TD | 16.64% | 2,504 | | | | | | | |
| | Fianna Fáil | Tom Fleming* | 15.80% | 2,377 | | | | | | | |
| | Fianna Fáil | Jackie Healy-Rae* | 14.71% | 2,213 | | | | | | | |
| | Labour | Michael Gleeson* | 11.49% | 1,729 | 1,756 | 1,773 | 1,780 | 1,887 | 2,021 | 2,159 | |
| | Fianna Fáil | P.J. Cronin* | 8.39% | 1,262 | 1,462 | 1,582 | 1,609 | 1,647 | 1,676 | 1,802 | 2,057 |
| | Fine Gael | Thomas Dennehy | 7.11% | 1,070 | 1,083 | 1,123 | 1,125 | 1,231 | 1,416 | 1,472 | 1,574 |
| | Fine Gael | Christy McSweeney* | 6.77% | 1,018 | 1,035 | 1,055 | 1,059 | 1,233 | 1,474 | 1,557 | 1,805 |
| | Workers' Party | Sean O'Grady | 6.56% | 987 | 1,029 | 1,037 | 1,044 | 1,105 | 1,139 | 1,343 | |
| | Independent | Redmond Sullivan | 4.45% | 670 | 699 | 714 | 719 | 741 | 779 | | |
| | Fine Gael | Tom Randles | 4.15% | 625 | 635 | 638 | 647 | 712 | | | |
| | Fine Gael | Paudie O'Connor* | 3.94% | 593 | 609 | 613 | 615 | | | | |
| Electorate: 19,651 Valid: 15,048 (76.58%) Spoilt: 178 (1.17%) Quota: 2,150 Turnout: 15,226 (77.48%) ||||||||||||

### Killorglin

Killorglin: 6 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| | Fianna Fáil | John O'Donoghue* | 17.00% | 2,215 | | | | | | | | | |
| | Fine Gael | Michael Connor-Scarteen* | 11.81% | 1,539 | 1,542 | 1,543 | 1,547 | 1,566 | 1,637 | 1,964 | | | |
| | Fianna Fáil | Thomas Cahill* | 10.27% | 1,338 | 1,403 | 1,425 | 1,448 | 1,487 | 1,530 | 1,895 | | | |
| | Fine Gael | Danny Kissane* | 9.93% | 1,293 | 1,296 | 1,319 | 1,347 | 1,365 | 1,505 | 1,513 | 1,521 | 1,577 | 1,627 |
| | Fine Gael | Dan Barry | 9.45% | 1,231 | 1,304 | 1,306 | 1,308 | 1,346 | 1,512 | 1,525 | 1,532 | 2,012 | |
| | Independent | Michael Ahern | 8.61% | 1,122 | 1,135 | 1,154 | 1,206 | 1,267 | 1,395 | 1,411 | 1,419 | 1,657 | 1,738 |
| | Fianna Fáil | Teddy O'Connor* | 7.60% | 990 | 1,051 | 1,063 | 1,076 | 1,118 | 1,168 | 1,310 | 1,354 | 1,468 | 1,488 |
| | Independent | Michael O'Connell* | 7.10% | 925 | 979 | 989 | 1,000 | 1,113 | 1,219 | 1,241 | 1,277 | | |
| | Fianna Fáil | Jackie Cahill | 6.83% | 890 | 931 | 938 | 939 | 961 | 981 | | | | |
| | Labour | Michael Doyle | 5.50% | 717 | 740 | 748 | 764 | 801 | | | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Dave O'Shea | 1.96% | 255 | 259 | 261 | 270 | | | | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Derek McKenna | 1.67% | 217 | 228 | 230 | 231 | | | | | | |
| | Workers' Party | Paddy Callaghan | 1.30% | 169 | 170 | 177 | | | | | | | |
| | Independent | Dan O'Connor | 0.96% | 125 | 127 | | | | | | | | |
| Electorate: 17,751 Valid: 13,026 (73.38%) Spoilt: 165 (1.25%) Quota: 1,861 Turnout: 13,191 (74.31%) ||||||||||||||

### Listowel

Listowel- 6 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| | Fine Gael | Sen. Jimmy Deenihan | 20.27% | 3,123 | | | | |
| | Fianna Fáil | Dan Kiely* | 15.99% | 2,463 | | | | |
| | Fianna Fáil | Eamonn Walsh* | 12.23% | 1,884 | 2,008 | 2,127 | 2,195 | 2,553 |
| | Fianna Fáil | Noel Brassil* | 12.00% | 1,849 | 1,872 | 1,910 | 1,916 | 2,154 |
| | Fine Gael | Eamonn Barry | 11.24% | 1,731 | 2,216 | | | |
| | Labour | John Joe O'Sullivan | 11.00% | 1,694 | 1,764 | 1,777 | 2,055 | 2,130 |
| | Sinn Féin | Jerry Walsh* | 9.56% | 1,473 | 1,562 | 1,588 | 1,673 | 1,747 |
| | Fianna Fáil | Jack Stack | 4.73% | 728 | 795 | 849 | 868 | |
| | Labour | Con Scanlon | 3.00% | 462 | 525 | 536 | | |
| Electorate: 20,984 Valid: 15,407 (73.42%) Spoilt: 166 (1.07%) Quota: 2,202 Turnout: 15,573 (74.21%) |||||||||

### Mid-Kerry

Mid-Kerry- 5 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 | Tom McEllistrim, Jnr TD | 19.89% | 2,239 | | | | | | |
| | Independent | James Courtney* | 15.57% | 1,753 | 1,779 | 1,912 | | | | |
| | Fine Gael | Michael Begley TD* | 12.75% | 1,436 | 1,439 | 1,463 | 1,660 | 1,665 | 2,369 | |
| | Independent | Breandán Mac Gearailt* | 11.80% | 1,329 | 1,335 | 1,401 | 1,467 | 1,484 | 1,547 | 1,666 |
| | Fianna Fáil | Thomas Fitzgerald* | 11.08% | 1,248 | 1,313 | 1,358 | 1,408 | 1,414 | 1,439 | 1,483 |
| | Fianna Fáil | Michael Long* | 8.54% | 961 | 1,150 | 1,237 | 1,342 | 1,346 | 1,638 | 1,764 |
| | Fine Gael | Bobby O'Connell | 8.46% | 953 | 977 | 1,012 | 1,310 | 1,313 | | |
| | Labour | Michael Moynihan TD | 6.96% | 784 | 805 | 873 | | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Matt Lee | 4.94% | 556 | 584 | | | | | |
| Electorate: 15,376 Valid: 11,259 (73.22%) Spoilt: 106 (0.93%) Quota: 1,877 Turnout: 11,365 (73.91%) |||||||||||

### Tralee

Tralee: 4 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| | Fianna Fáil | Denis Foley TD* | 32.67% | 3,101 | | | | | |
| | Labour | Meave Spring | 18.00% | 1,709 | 1,872 | 1,964 | | | |
| | Fianna Fáil | Ted Fitzgerald | 12.03% | 1,142 | 1,575 | 1,670 | 1,680 | 1,808 | 2,379 |
| | Sinn Féin | Sean O'Callaghan | 9.27% | 880 | 971 | 1,060 | 1,071 | 1,101 | 1,175 |
| | Independent | John Blennerhassett* | 8.98% | 852 | 974 | 1,059 | 1,081 | 1,519 | 1,686 |
| | Fine Gael | Sean Shanahan | 8.31% | 789 | 827 | 852 | 863 | | |
| | Fianna Fáil | Pauline Fuller* | 6.39% | 607 | 879 | 904 | 914 | 995 | |
| | Workers' Party | Donal Tobin | 4.35% | 413 | 496 | | | | |
| Electorate: 14,535 Valid: 9,493 (65.31%) Spoilt: 124 (1.29%) Quota: 1,899 Turnout: 9,617 (66.16%) ||||||||||