Revealed: Winners of the 2026 KKB special awards - and best overall estate!

​The following were the winners of the Keep Kilkenny Beautiful special awards, and best overall estate for 2026.

SPECIAL AWARDS

KITE Services

KITE are a HSE Service based in Loughboy, working with young people in Kilkenny. As part of their contribution to the upkeep of the local area and due to the interest of a number of participants, they engage in weekly KKB volunteering in their area of Loughboy Park, Outrath Road, Bohernatounish Road, Laurel Drive, Archers Cresent and Cedarwood Ave. We thank them for their demonstration of Pride of Place in the community. Their certificate will be accepted by David Devine form KITE.

New Park Family Resource Centre

The Family Resource Centre ran a series over the summer with the community with funding from the Anti-Litter Grant, and they also took a circular economy party pack, they are loaning it out locally to reduce party single use items. The created a beautiful mural to represent their commitment to looking after their environment

Fr McGrath Family Resource Centre

Tammy Greene registered for team up to clean up campaign this year. Tammy always takes up the opportunity to engage with initiatives to look after the environment and engage the children with activities in their community.

Kilkenny Volunteer Centre and Presentation Secondary School

Paula Harte from the Volunteer Centre and Presentation school teacher Eddie Moylan, worked together to engage Transition Year Presentation school students in a Community Engagement project on litter. They worked together to organise a litter survey. The students conducted the survey and the results in the student’s report, showed how they were much more aware of the problem of litter on our streets than they were before they conducted the survey. 

Lucy’s Pumpkin Patch Project and St John’s Junior School

KKB volunteer Lucy Dollard has a special interest in pumpkins and Hallowe’en. Every year she harvests the seeds from pumpkins at home, saves them, plants them in the spring, cares for them and when they are big enough in June, shares them with local groups, friends and schools. Lucy has been sharing her plants with the Lake School for a number of years. 

Brendan Lawless Environmental Award

WeCan - Adam McCarthy, Ross O’Hanrahan and Jamie Hogan

What started as a conversation between Terry Clune and Johnny McCarthy, has evolved into an enterprise providing a service to businesses around Kilkenny and three new jobs for three young men, providing meaningful employment that has a positive impact on the environment.

Best Overall Estate 2026

Rosewood, Johnswell Road.

Congratulations to Rosewood Estate who impressed this year. Rosewood Residents Association undertook the Craig Benton composting course organised by Kilkenny County Council and set up wire mesh leaf mould baskets on the estate. Monthly litter picks and clean ups are organised with participation by the estate’s children. Planters have been established around the estate with shrubs and flowers. Wall baskets also provided colour in the summer. Over the last two years, the residents have also run an easter egg hunt for the children in the estate.