Kelly-Kenny took a keen interest in affairs in his native County Clare and in 1876 he was appointed Justice of the Peace for Clare (after he inherited his estates), as were his father Matthew Kelly, his uncle Mathias Kenny and his brother Matthew Butler Kelly. In 1876 the then Captain Thomas Kelly Kenny held 5,736 acres in Clare. He was patron of the school at Scropul near Treanmanagh founded by his uncle Dr Mathias Kenny. His family had a strong history of involvement in politics and local government. His mother's first cousin Richard Kenny was Vice Provost for Ennis in 1827 and also served as a grand juror. Another of their first cousins, Dean John Kenny of Kilrush and Ennis, was an active figure in political and social reform in those towns. His second cousin Fr Matthew J Kenny was one of the first two presidents of the Clare Farmers' Association and a founder member of the Land League. His uncle Fr Timothy Kelly was an active campaigner for famine relief as parish priest of Kilrush in the famine years. In the late 1840s his father Matthew Kelly and other Gallery and Kenny relatives were poor law guardians.