Cork’s Cleanest Villages Awarded for Taking Part in Anti-Litter Challenge

The cleanest villages in the county were presented with their awards before the July Divisional Committee meetings following another successful Anti-Litter Challenge competition run by Cork County Council. This anti-litter initiative has been hugely popular with local communities for many years and 2025 was no exception. 66 villages and 20 towns took part across the three Divisions. Following six weeks of judging between late April and early June, the judges compiled the scores and announced the results for the villages. The awards were presented in County Hall, Clonakilty and Mallow on Wednesday, the 23^rd of July. 

The competition was particularly intense this year among the small villages of West Cork. Remarkably, four villages: Newcestown, Cappeen, Ring and Kilmacsimon Quay, finished with full marks after all judging was completed. This necessitated an extra round of judging to determine who qualified to represent West Cork in the Villages County Final. Ring was chosen and joined Ballinspittle, who flew the flag for West Cork in the large villages category. 

In North Cork, Kildorrery made it three-in-a-row in the large villages category, while Knocknagree put in an outstanding performance to become the number one small village. 

The Gaeltacht triumphed in South Cork, where Béal Átha an Ghaorthaidh and Cúil Aodha took first place in the large and small villages categories respectively. The top villages also received €1,000 in prize money, with further prizes for 2^nd and 3^rd place villages as well as the best improvers. See below for a full list of winners

		Large Villages	Small Villages
North Cork	1st Place	Kildorrery	Knocknagree
	2nd Place	Banteer	Castlemagner
	3rd Place	Boherbue	Coolagown & Lismire (Joint 3rd)
	Best Improver	Ballynoe
South Cork	1st Place	Béal Átha an Ghaorthaidh	Cúil Aodha
	2nd Place	Rostellan	Ré na nDoirí
	3rd Place	Saleen	Ballinhassig
	Best Improver	Cloyne
West Cork	1st Place	Ballinspittle	Ring  Cappeen  Newcestown  Kilmacsimon Quay (Joint 1st)
	2nd Place	Union Hall
	3rd Place	Durrus
	Best Improver	Timoleague	DKANE 23rd July 2025 REPRO FREE County Councillors with Residents Associations and Tidy Town members at the villages divisional Anti-Litter Challenge Awards in County Hall. PIC Darragh Kane Back: David Nolan (Union Hall), Aisling Minihane (Ballinspittle), Lynn Fuller (Kilmacsimon Quay), Marian O’Callaghan (Timoleague), Niall O’Mahony (Newcestown), F: Adam McCarthy (CorkCoCo), Shaun Taylor (Durrus), Frances Coakley (Ring) and Barry O’Sullivan (Coppeen) receiving their prize for the Anti-Litter Challenge 2025 from Cllr. Marie O’Sullivan at the Villages Divisional awards in Clonakilty. Photo: Anna Groniecka

Mayor of the County of Cork, Cllr Mary Linehan Foley praised all the towns and villages who entered, stating: “Community groups are the heart of the fight against litter, helping us to create cleaner, safer spaces for everyone to enjoy. This year 20 towns and 66 villages entered the challenge and I congratulate all winners in their respective categories. We hope to see even more towns and villages take part in the challenge again next year.”

Cork County Council and the public at large owe a huge debt of gratitude to those volunteers who spend long hours working to keep our towns and villages tidy and beautiful. We thank them for the tireless work.

The winners in the various Towns categories and Villages County Final will be announced at an awards ceremony in County Hall in September.