Ten years after it first won the Tidy Towns Competition, the Roscommon village of Keadue reclaimed the title yesterday.
The village, which has close links with the blind harpist Turlough O'Carolan, also won the award for Ireland's tidiest village, as well as the regional award for the West.
Keadue has a population of less than 150 people, and about 40 have some involvement in the Tidy Towns committee.
Kenmare, Co Kerry won the award for the tidiest small town while Westport claimed the title of Ireland's tidiest large town. Both towns were previous winners of the overall award.
Dublin's Bull Island was in the unfortunate position of receiving the lowest score out of almost 700 entrants. It received 70 marks out of a possible 300 compared with Keadue's 270 marks.
A spokeswoman for the Department of the Environment said the fact that Bull Island had made an effort to take part in the competition was the most important issue, not the score it achieved.
The adjudicators' report for Keadue praised the "magnificent" entrances to the village, the "excellent" street furniture and the strong sense of heritage inspired by the O'Carolan Memorial Park. The village receives prize money of €15,000, as well as a trophy and commemorative plaque.
Keadue will find itself in the spotlight again next week when the results of the Entente Florale competition are announced in Slovenia. The village is representing Ireland in the small town category in the European competition while Malahide represents Ireland in the big town category.
The competition promotes green and more pleasant environments in European towns and villages, with an emphasis on the planting of flowers and shrubs.
Ennis, Co Clare and Stradbally, Co Waterford both won gold medals in the event last year.
Yesterday, Keadue's Tidy Towns committee put its success down to "hard work, pure and simple", according to committee member Ms Peggy Campbell.
The lack of a fast food outlet in the village may also be a factor as the committee did not have to contend with abandoned food wrappings, said Mr Pádraig Noone, secretary of the committee.
He said children had been instilled with a culture of looking after their village, and littering was rare.
Asked if the win would put Keadue on the map, he said the village was already known worldwide because of the O'Carolan connection.
Turlough O'Carolan is buried just outside Keadue, and the village holds a festival every year to commemorate the harpist. "But strangely enough, some people in Ireland aren't too sure where exactly Keadue is. I'm sure, and I'm hoping, that they will know it now," Mr Noone said.
Keadue beat last year's winners - Castletown in Co Laois - by three points. Castletown won the gold medal in Category B (population from 201 to 1,000) this year. There were 14 gold medal winners this year - an increase of four on last year.
Eyeries in Cork was just one point behind Keadue and won a gold medal for its achievement in the small village category, together with Rathbarry in Cork and Newtowncashel in Longford.
The overall winner of the best shopfront award was the Credit Union in Dún Laoghaire while the landscaping award was won by the Mall and the Square in Westport.
Malahide won the best urban village award while Skerries was highly commended. The heritage award was claimed by Aughagower in Mayo and the inclusive environment award was won by Birr Castle Interpretative Centre in Offaly. Sherkin Island won the best island award while the Gaeltacht award was won by Oileán Cléire. The island also won a best new entry award.
