History

The national Tidy Towns initiative was launched by Bord Fáilte, the Irish Tourist Board (now Fáilte Ireland), in 1958 as part of the ‘Tostal’, a nationwide festival celebrating all things Irish. A step-up from the original National Spring Clean Campaign which ran between 1953 and 1957, Tidy Towns rapidly developed its own identity and has gone on to become Ireland’s most well known and popular local environmental initiative.

Killarney has regularly won gold medals, regional awards and awards for best kept large town, and in 2011 won the overall award for the very first time. In 2023 we were named Ireland’s Tidiest Large Town. Since then we have managed to retain and improve our high score year on year. The Killarney Looking Good/Tidy Towns Committee is committed to stepping up their efforts, and has seen a great surge in volunteers who are fundamental to the constant upkeep of the beautiful south Kerry town. We welcome volunteers from many diverse communities.