Demographics of Swords

Swords (a self-contained town outside Historic Dublin County and modern Fingal County) has developed into the largest town in Ireland. The town's population boom began in the 1970s with the construction of the sprawling Rivervalley Estate, Ireland's largest private housing development, ahead of Kilnamanagh Estate in Tallaght North, and continued during the 1990s and 2000s, with many new residents moving to the area due to its proximity to their work at Dublin Airport. Swords is accessed by the R132 and the M1 motorway.

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1813		—
1821	1,727	—
1831	2,537	+46.9%
1841	1,788	−29.5%
1851	1,294	−27.6%
1861	1,296	+0.2%
1871	1,008	−22.2%
1881	1,088	+7.9%
1891	983	−9.7%
1901	944	−4.0%
1911	907	−3.9%
1926	839	−7.5%
1936	838	−0.1%
1946	703	−16.1%
1951	1,136	+61.6%
1956	1,629	+43.4%
1961	1,816	+11.5%
1966	1,892	+4.2%
1971	4,133	+118.4%
1981	11,138	+169.5%
1986	15,312	+37.5%
1991	17,705	+15.6%
1996	22,314	+26.0%
2002	27,175	+21.8%
2006	37,762	+39.0%
2011	42,738	+13.2%

Fingal County Hall.

At the 2011 census the total urban population was 42,738, which makes it the largest town in Fingal, although not officially recognised. Unlike most large towns, Swords does not have a town council or any legal boundaries. Towns which do not have legal boundaries are classified as Census Towns for statistical reasons and are given borders by the Central Statistics Office. However, when they gave borders to the Swords census town they excluded the Drynam and Holywell housing estates, and considered them as a separate census town of "Kinsealy-Drinan". The "Swords" census town had a population of 36,924 (the third largest in Ireland), and the "Kinsealy-Drinan" census town had a population of 5,814. This contradicts their own guidelines which say that borders will be extended to include all occupied dwellings within 100 metres of an existing building.[1] According to the CSO's own SAPMAP viewer, there is definitely less than 100 meters between the two census towns, down to only 10 metres at one point.[2] The two census towns are part of the same urban area, and are both within the Swords development boundary, as defined by Fingal County Council.[3] When put together they have a total population of 42,738, well ahead of Irelands official largest town, Drogheda (38,578). The reason that two census towns were identified is probably because of an area of undeveloped land between them at Barryparks. This land has been left undeveloped because Fingal County Council has reserved it for commercial use to allow Swords develop its own city centre. This problem can't be resolved until at least the next census in 2016, although it could also be resolved by applying legal boundaries to Swords, covering the entire developed urban area.

Fingal County Council have referred to Swords as an "Emerging City", and expect that the town's (or city's) population will reach 100,000 by 2035.

The town is close to Dublin Airport, and is separated from the city by a narrow green belt around the airport.

Main Street c.1898.

The table below contains the population breakdown by Census Towns and Electoral Divisions (ED's) in Swords, taken from the 2011 census results.[4]

These are the 2011 Ethnic groups for Swords.

70.2% White Irish (30,946 people)

17.0% Other White (7,089 people)

2.7% Asian (1169 people)

2.6% Black (1142 people)

0.4% Irish Traveller (96 people)

7.1% Other/Not Stated (2096 people)

Total (All Ethnic groups): 42,738

Census 2011

Sex, age and marital status

Population by sex and age group[5][6]

Age	Male	Female	Total
00-04	2213	1986	4199
05-09	1527	1512	3039
10-14	1353	1284	2637
15-19	1311	1181	2492
20-24	1402	1488	2890
25-29	2053	2339	4392
30-34	2655	2753	5408
35-39	2119	2117	4236
40-44	1637	1715	3352
45-49	1375	1532	2907
50-54	1118	1177	2295
55-59	780	852	1632
60-64	595	641	1236
65-69	425	445	870
70-74	263	232	495
75-79	120	192	312
80-84	59	114	173
85+	44	129	173
Total	21049	21689	42738

Population by sex and marital status[5][6]

Status	Males	Females	Total
Single	12247	11932	24179
Married	7770	7744	15514
Separated	429	676	1105
Divorced	414	636	1050
Widowed	189	701	890
Total	21049	21689	42738

Migration and ethnicity

Usually resident population by place of birth and nationality[5][6]

Location	Birthplace
Ireland	32007
UK	1891
Poland	2291
Lithuania	606
Other EU 27	2870
Rest of World	2701
Not stated	0
Total	42366

Usually resident population by ethnic or cultural background[5][6]

Ethnic background	Persons
White Irish	31429
White Irish Traveller	96
Other White	7130
Black or Black Irish	1155
Asian or Asian Irish	1173
Other	459
Not stated	924
Total	42366

Usually resident population aged 1 and over by usual residence 1 year before Census Day[5][6]

Residence	Persons
Same Address	37855
Elsewhere in County	2656
Elsewhere in Ireland	316
Outside Ireland	667
Total	41494

Population by religion[5][6]

Religion	Persons
Catholic	34021
Other stated religion	4711
No religion	3006
Not stated	1000
Total	42738

Speakers of foreign languages by language spoken[5][6]

Language	Persons
Polish	2336
French	620
Lithuanian	514
Other	5476
Total	8946

Speakers of foreign languages by ability to speak English[5][6]

Ability	Persons
Very well	3887
Well	3070
Not well	1378
Not at all	298
Not stated	313
Total	8946

Irish language

Population aged 3 or over by ability to speak Irish[5][6]

Ability	Persons
Yes	14126
No	24947
Not stated	967
Total	40040

Irish speakers aged 3 or over by frequency of speaking Irish[5][6]

Frequency	Persons
Speaks Irish Daily, within education system only	4475
Speaks Irish Daily, within and also outside education system	322
Outside education system, Daily	344
Outside education system, Weekly	725
Outside education system, Less often	4254
Outside education system, Never	3909
Outside education system, Not stated	97
Total	14126

Irish speakers within education aged 3+, by frequency of speaking Irish outside education[5][6]

Frequency	Persons	Males	Females
Daily	186	66	120
Weekly	56	25	31
Less often	36	14	22
Never	44	17	27
Total	322	122	200

Families

Families, family members and children in families, by size of family[5][6]

Size of family	Number of families	Number of persons in families	Number of children in families
2 persons	4390	8780	1157
3 persons	2946	8838	3546
4 persons	2702	10808	5630
5 persons	1107	5535	3373
6 or more persons	339	2112	1449
Total	11484	36073	15155

Family units with children by size and age of children[5][6]

	All children under 15	All children 15 or over	Children both under and over 15	Total
No children	0	0	0	3233
1 child	2146	1357	0	3503
2 children	1764	840	472	3076
3 children	592	234	455	1281
4 children	135	48	132	315
5 or more children	22	6	48	76

Family units with children by type of family and age of children[5][6]

Number of families

	Couples with children	Lone mothers with children	Lone fathers with children
All children aged under fifteen	3620	981	58
All children aged over fifteen	1695	648	142
Other	886	201	20
Total number of family units	6201	1830	220

Number of children

	Couples with children	Lone mothers with children	Lone fathers with children
All children aged under fifteen	6520	1499	84
All children aged over fifteen	2834	937	190
Other	2478	564	49
Total number of family units	11832	3000	323

Families by age of youngest child[5][6]

	Number of families	Number of family members
0–4 years	3243	11850
5–9 years	1423	5407
10–14 years	1100	4209
15–19 years	989	3574
20+ years	1496	4567
Total	8251	29607

Families by family cycle[5][6]

Family cycle	Number of families	Number of family members
Pre-family	2020	4040
Empty nest	814	1628
Retired	399	798
Pre-school	1979	6220
Early school	1450	5351
Pre-Adolescent	1230	4811
Adolescent	1295	5050
Adult	2297	8175
Total	11484	36073

Females aged 20 years or over by number of children born alive[5][6]

Number of children born	Number of females
0	5477
1	2687
2	3466
3	2015
4 or more	1504
Total	15149

Private Households

Private households by type[5][6]

Type of Household	Households	Persons
One person	2471	2471
Husband and wife	1767	3534
Cohabiting couple	968	1936
Husband, wife and children	5036	20036
Cohabiting couple and children	646	2338
Father and children	177	441
Mother and children	1495	4037
Couple and others	341	1209
Couple, children and others	353	1745
Father, children and others	32	122
Mother, children and others	162	597
Two or more family units	250	1385
Non-family households and relations	367	911
Two or more non-related persons	741	1997
Total	14806	42759

Private households by size[5][6]

Size of family	Households	Persons
1 person	2471	2471
2 persons	4285	8570
3 persons	3166	9498
4 persons	2957	11828
5 persons	1381	6905
6 persons	404	2424
7 persons	93	651
8 or more persons	49	412
Total	14806	42759

Housing

Swords is a socio-economically mixed area with the local housing stock being made up of private and local authority housing.

In 1999 the Seatown Villas area of Swords celebrated 50 years in existence, making it the oldest local authority housing estate in Dublin outside of the city limits. In 2005, Fingal County Council opened 138 council housing units in the Applewood development in Swords.[7] This is the first such public-private housing development to take place in Fingal where private development is inter-mixed with local authority housing. This successful pilot scheme has been replicated in the south of the town in the Boroimhe Estate and also in the Mulhuddart area.

A view from the 1790s.

Private households by type of accommodation[5][6]

Type of accommodation	Households	Persons
House/Bungalow	11954	36293
Flat/Apartment	2516	5515
Bed-sit	13	33
Caravan/Mobile Home	8	20
Not stated	315	898
Total	14806	42759

Permanent private households by year built[5][6]

Year Built	Households	Persons
Pre 1919	49	121
1919 to 1945	70	180
1946 to 1960	201	503
1961 to 1970	747	1996
1971 to 1980	1953	5607
1981 to 1990	2486	7730
1991 to 2000	2739	8782
2001 to 2005	4208	11437
2006 or later	1438	3544
Not stated	907	2839
Total	14798	42739

Permanent private households by type of occupancy[5][6]

Type of occupancy	Households	Persons
Owner occupied with mortgage	7599	22694
Owner occupied no mortgage	2642	6624
Rented from Private Landlord	3517	10569
Rented from Local Authority	628	1823
Rented from Voluntary Body	123	354
Occupied free of rent	67	126
Not stated	222	549
Total	14798	42739

Permanent private households by number of rooms[5][6]

Number of rooms	Households	Persons
1 room	138	261
2 rooms	907	1964
3 rooms	1619	4374
4 rooms	2025	4782
5 rooms	4267	12079
6 rooms	2609	8264
7 rooms	1737	5915
8 or more rooms	959	3707
Not stated	537	1393
Total	14798	42739

Permanent private households by central heating[5][6]

Central heating type	Households
No central heating	54
Oil	2100
Natural Gas	11413
Electricity	887
Coal (including anthracite)	78
Peat (including turf)	7
Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG)	21
Wood (including wood pellets)	7
Other	15
Not stated	216
Total	14798

Permanent private households by water supply[5][6]

Water supply	Households
Public main	13542
Group scheme with local authority source	688
Group scheme with private source	16
Other private source	10
None	0
Not stated	542
Total	14798

Permanent private households by sewerage facility[5][6]

Sewerage facility	Households
Public scheme	13838
Individual septic tank	141
Other individual treatment	25
Other	53
No sewerage facility	10
Not stated	731
Total	14798

Occupancy status of permanent dwellings on Census night[5][6]

Occupancy	Dwellings
Occupied	14818
Unoccupied	1125
Total	15943

Communal Establishments

Persons in Communal Establishments[5][6]

Number of establishments	16
Number of persons	481

Principal Status

Population aged 15 years and over by principal economic status and sex[5][6]

Principal Economic Status	Male	Female	Total
At work	10806	10169	20975
Looking for first regular job	167	152	319
Unemployed having lost or given up previous job	1856	1271	3127
Student	1595	1536	3131
Looking after home/family	112	2201	2313
Retired	1023	915	1938
Unable to work due to permanent sickness or disability	380	626	1006
Other	17	37	54
Total	15956	16907	32863

Social Class and Socio-Economic Group

Population by sex and social class[5][6]

Social Class	Male	Female	Total
Professional workers	1316	1132	2448
Managerial and technical	6040	6539	12579
Non-manual	3487	5722	9209
Skilled manual	4396	2336	6732
Semi-skilled	2480	2110	4590
Unskilled	714	653	1367
All others gainfully occupied and unknown	2616	3197	5813
Total	21049	21689	42738

Persons in private households by socio-economic group of reference person[5][6]

	Socio-economic group of reference person	Households	Persons
A	Employers and managers	2704	7949
B	Higher professional	842	2256
C	Lower professional	1783	4761
D	Non-manual	3761	10498
E	Manual skilled	1332	4168
F	Semi-skilled	1209	3775
G	Unskilled	421	1309
H	Own account workers	806	2637
I	Farmers	24	77
J	Agricultural workers	50	173
Z	All others gainfully occupied and unknown	1874	5156
	Total	14806	42759

Education

Population aged 15 years and over by age education ceased[5][6]

Age	Males	Females	Total
Under 15 years	472	497	969
15	576	433	1009
16	1102	910	2012
17	1259	1398	2657
18	1812	1987	3799
19	563	827	1390
20	588	637	1225
21 and over	2843	3124	5967
Not stated	3875	4250	8125
Total	13090	14063	27153

Population aged 15 years and over whose education has not ceased[5][6]

Education	Males	Females	Total
Still at school	1595	1536	3131
Other	1271	1308	2579

Population aged 15 years and over by field of study[5][6]

Qualification	Males	Females	Total
Education and teacher training	181	730	911
Arts	278	293	571
Humanities	159	313	472
Social sciences, Business and Law	1811	3101	4912
Science, Mathematics and Computing	887	588	1475
Engineering, Manufacturing and Construction	2533	269	2802
Agriculture and Veterinary	112	78	190
Health and Welfare	266	1287	1553
Services	729	1059	1788
Other subjects	11	19	30
Not Stated (including unknown)	6123	6326	12449
Total	13090	14063	27153

Population aged 15 years and over by sex and highest level of education completed[5][6]

Education Level	Males	Females	Total
No Formal Education	95	85	180
Primary Education	912	1059	1971
Lower Secondary	1949	1851	3800
Upper Secondary	3012	3540	6552
Technical or Vocational qualification	1378	1543	2921
Advanced Certificate/Completed Apprenticeship	1275	591	1866
Higher Certificate	702	802	1504
Ordinary Bachelor Degree or National Diploma	1105	1238	2343
Honours Bachelor Degree, Professional qualification or both	1194	1458	2652
Postgraduate Diploma or Degree	790	1191	1981
Doctorate(Ph.D) or higher	65	64	129
Not stated	613	641	1254
Total	13090	14063	27153

Commuting

Population aged 5 years and over by means of travel to work, school or college[5][6]

Means	Persons
On foot	4532
Bicycle	512
Bus, minibus or coach	4730
Train, DART or LUAS	376
Motorcycle or scooter	181
Car driver	12892
Car passenger	4208
Van	830
Other	391
Not stated	854
Total	29506

Population aged 5 years and over by time leaving home to travel to work, school or college[5][6]

Time	Persons
Before 06:30	2753
06:30-07:00	2247
07:01-07:30	3006
07:31-08:00	4575
08:01-08:30	6219
08:31-09:00	5636
09:01-09:30	1032
After 09:30	2576
Not stated	1132
Total	29176

Population aged 5 years and over by journey time to work, school or college[5][6]

Time	Persons
Under 15 mins	7955
¹⁄₄ hour – under ¹⁄₂ hour	8896
¹⁄₂ hour – under ³⁄₄ hour	5554
³⁄₄ hour – under 1 hour	2238
1 hour – under 1 ¹⁄₂ hours	2313
1 ¹⁄₂ hours and over	569
Not stated	1651
Total	29176

Disability, carers and general health

Persons with disability by age group[5][6]

Age group	Persons
00-14	508
15-24	384
25-44	1191
45-64	1206
65+	747
Total	4036

Carers by sex and number of unpaid hours per week[5][6]

Number of hours	Males	Females
'1-14	246	388
'15-28	58	126
'29-42	37	54
'43+	72	166
'Not stated	62	94
'Total	475	828

Population by general health and sex[5][6]

Health	Males	Females	Total
Very good	13423	13616	27039
Good	5763	6046	11809
Fair	1054	1261	2315
Bad	147	186	333
Very bad	41	36	77
Not stated	621	544	1165
Total	21049	21689	42738

Occupation

Persons at work or unemployed by occupation and sex[5][6]

Occupation	Males	Females	Total
Managers, Directors and Senior Officials	1233	734	1967
Professional Occupations	1358	1768	3126
Associate Professional and Technical Occupations	1767	1204	2971
Administrative and Secretarial Occupations	704	2348	3052
Skilled Trades Occupations	2212	203	2415
Caring, Leisure and Other Service Occupations	348	1392	1740
Sales and Customer Service Occupations	793	1497	2290
Process, Plant and Machine Operatives	1625	287	1912
Elementary Occupations	1585	1084	2669
Not stated	1037	923	1960
Total	12662	11440	24102

Industries

Persons at work by industry and sex[5][6]

Industry	Males	Females
Agriculture, forestry and fishing	86	40
Building and construction	667	62
Manufacturing industries	1067	535
Commerce and trade	2872	3061
Transport and communications	2410	1137
Public administration	719	627
Professional services	1373	3099
Other	1612	1608
Total	10806	10169

PC and Internet Access

Number of households with cars[5][6]

Cars	Households
No motor car	1791
One motor car	6481
Two motor cars	5581
Three motor cars	777
Four or more motor cars	168

Number of households with a personal computer[5][6]

	Households
Yes	12652
No	1811
Not stated	335
Total	14798

Number of households with internet access[5][6]

	Households
Broadband	12023
Other	737
No	1678
Not stated	360
Total	14798

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] Appendix 2

[2] Boundary layer: settlements Archived October 12, 2014, at the Wayback Machine

[3] Dashed red line

[4] Census 2011 Population Classified by Area Table CD114

[census1-5] Census 2011 Small Area Population Statistics - Swords Census Town

[census2-6] Census 2011 Small Area Population Statistics – Kinsealy-Drinan Census Town

[7] Council Housing Applewood