Castlecoote in County Roscommon is the overall winner of Ireland’s Best Kept Town competition, 2013. Castlecoote also won the Best Kept Village category. Straffan, CountyKildare won the Best Kept Small Town category, Cookstown, County Tyrone won the Best Kept Large Town category and Enniskillen, County Fermanagh won the Best Kept Large Urban Centre category.
The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and the Northern Ireland Amenity Council initiated the Ireland’s Best Kept Towns competition in 1995 to help raise the profile of both the TidyTowns and Northern Ireland’s Best Kept competitions, and so help to improve the standard of towns and villages across the island of Ireland.
All entrants were marked against strict adjudication criteria that included cleanliness, the outward appearance of buildings, the presentation of roads and public facilities and the natural environment.