Carlow County Council was established on 1 April 1899 under the
Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 for the
administrative county of
County Carlow. That included the judicial county of Carlow and the part of
County Laois (then called Queen's County) containing the town of
Carlow. Before 1925, the chair of each
rural district council sat as an member of the council. Under the
Local Government Act 1925, rural district councils in Ireland were abolished and their functions transferred to the county councils. In County Carlow, these were the districts of Baltinglass No. 2, Carlow and Idrone. The number of members of the county council increased from 20 to 26. In 1942, in an order under the Local Government Act 1941, the number of councillors was reduced to 21. This figure was restated by the
Local Government Act 2001. In November 2012,
Phil Hogan, the
Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, appointed a Local Electoral Area Boundary Committee to review the allocation of seats and the local electoral areas across local authorities. In the case of Carlow County Council, it recommended a decrease to 18 seats. This was implemented by the
Local Government Reform Act 2014. In addition, all
town councils in Ireland were abolished and their functions transferred to the county councils. In County Carlow, these were the town councils of
Carlow and
Muinebheag. The council originally met in
Carlow Courthouse. The council established their County Secretary's Office at 1 Athy Road in the former offices and printing works of the
Carlow Sentinel which ceased publication after the
First World War. The council subsequently moved further north along Athy Road into modern premises which are now known as the
County Buildings. ==Library service==