Ireland voted on Friday on whether to scrap the Seanad, or Senate, which Kenny describes as elitist and undemocratic, saying that its closure could save the nation 20 million euros ($27 million).
Early tallies suggested that the outcome was too close to call, while surprisingly the momentum appeared to be with those who voted against the plan.
In the Dublin Central constituency, with almost a third of the boxes counted, the 'No' vote led 57 per cent against 43 per cent in favour.
"The 'Nos' are very strong, even in the middle class areas ... it's looking like a 'No' in many areas of Dublin," Dessie Ellis, an MP for the Republican party Sinn Fein, told AFP.
He said that the low turnout, expected to be 30-40 per cent, reflected people's disillusionment with the government.
Counting began at 0800 GMT in 28 centres across the country, with a result expected in the afternoon.
Opinion polls in previous weeks had suggested voters would likely back Kenny's proposal, which has the support of the coalition government parties and some of the opposition.
An exit poll by the Irish Independent newspaper, albeit with a very small sample, said the result was too close to call.
Kenny took many by surprise, even those in his own Fine Gael party, when he announced in the run-up to the last general election that he would put plans to scrap the upper house to the people.
Opponents of Kenny's plans admit the 60-member upper house in its current form does not work but have said it should be reformed rather than closed.
But critics accuse Kenny's party of hiding behind a promise of savings to centralize power in the government's hands — and close the door on wider political reform.
In a message posted on YouTube on Thursday, Kenny pointed out that other European Union nations had scrapped their upper houses without any negative effect on their democracies.
A separate vote on whether to establish a new court of appeal has also taken place, with Dublin hoping the new institution will ease the heavy pressure on the heavily backlogged Supreme Court.
Historically, many senators tend to be politicians who failed to gain a seat in a general election or those hoping to win a seat in the lower house at a future election.
The upper house is the less powerful house of parliament, often reduced to rubber-stamping legislation from the lower house.
Its ability to delay bills passed by the lower house for 90 days is its most powerful function, but that has only occurred twice in 75 years.
Most of the Senate members are elected from vocational panels by local councillors and by university graduates. Eleven are appointed by the prime minister, generally ensuring a government majority.
Meanwhile, the referendum vote comes ahead of another austerity budget in Ireland on October 14, almost three years since it entered an European Union-International Monetary Fund bailout in November 2010.
The IMF on Friday slashed its growth forecasts for Ireland after predicting weaker consumer demand and export growth for the country.
The IMF, which formed a central part of Ireland's international rescue in 2010 that was worth 85 billion euros, said it expects Ireland's economy to grow by 0.6 per cent this year compared with a previous forecast of 1.1 per cent.
It added that gross domestic product (GDP) was forecast to expand by 1.8 per cent next year compared with the fund's earlier prediction of 2.2 per cent.
The downgrades come despite Ireland exiting recession in the second quarter with economic growth of 0.4 per cent thanks to solid expansion of its construction and export sectors.
Its economy went through a period of turmoil in the run-up to the 2008 global financial crisis and after, amid soaring government debt, a property market meltdown, banking crisis and surging unemployment.
Ireland had been known as the 'Celtic Tiger' economy for its double-digit growth spanning a decade from the mid-1990s.
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