Swords, Dublin

The town's origins date back to 560 AD when it was reputedly founded by Saint Colmcille (521–567).[11] Legend has it that the saint blessed a local well, giving the settlement its name, Sord, meaning "clear" or "pure". However, An Sord also means "the water source" and could indicate a large communal drinking well that existed in antiquity.[12] St. Colmcille's Well is located on Well Road off Main Street. Sord may also refer to a "sward", an 'expanse of grass'.[13] The most ubiquitous landscape indicators of early Christian settlement are the ecclesiastical enclosures, and in the case of Swords, the street pattern has been influenced by the circular alignment of the settlement.

The medieval town developed in a linear pattern along Main Street, in a roughly north–south direction. The round tower, 26m in height, is also an indicator of early Christian settlement. The Irish high king Brian Boru is said to have had his funeral at the church on Spittal Hill after he was killed at the Battle of Clontarf; this was of course before the hospital and even the Church of Ireland when there would have been a small chapel there along with the round tower.

At the northern end of the street stands Swords Castle, 200m northeast of the ecclesiastical site, which was built in the early 13th century. A short distance north of the Castle is the elevation known as Spittal Hill, where a hospital once stood.[14]

In 1994, Swords became the county seat of the new county of Fingal after the abolition of the former County Dublin as an administrative county. In 2001, upon the completion of the County Hall, senior executive offices moved there from Parnell Square in Dublin city centre.

In June 2006, the RNLI Ireland officially opened its new all-Ireland headquarters at Airside Business Park, within greater Swords. It was officially opened by President Mary McAleese. In attendance at this Presidential ceremony was Admiral Sir Jock Slater, RN, a former British First Sea Lord then serving as Chairman of the Executive Committee of the R.N.L.I..

Fingal County Council's "Strategic Vision" for Swords is reputedly to create a sustainable "new city". The council has referred to Swords as an "emerging city" and has projected that the population of Swords would rise towards 100,000 by the year 2035.[15] The town is the seventh-largest urban area in the country, and the third-largest in County Dublin, after Dublin City and Tallaght.

Swords Cultural Quarter Masterplan by Fingal County Council proposed to redevelop the centre of Swords surrounding the castle.[16]

In 2012, Swords was named the third best town in Ireland to live in. The survey conducted by Retail Excellence Ireland took into account safety, retail, dining, entertainment, events, car parking and overall attractiveness of the town.[17] Since the mid-1990s Swords has seen improvements in shop fronts, public buildings and footpaths and the restoration of Swords Castle.

In 2003 the Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) survey scored Swords the worst "litter blackspot" in the country.[18] Following improvements in litter levels, a 2011 survey declared Swords to be the second cleanest town in Ireland.[19] In the 2019 survey, An Taisce, who carry out the surveys on behalf of IBAL, stated: 'A stellar showing for this large urban area. Swords is a model for others to follow.[20]

Main Street, Swords in 1940

Swords is situated roughly in the centre of the modern county of Fingal and the ancient barony of Nethercross.

The Ward River, coming from County Meath, runs west to east to near the centre of the town, and then turns to run north, before flowing into the Broad Meadow Water or Broadmeadow River to the east of the town, across the former northern road. A small stream joins the Ward near the town centre and the holy well. The Broadmeadow, also flowing from Meath, borders the north of the town. It runs from Dunshaughlin in the west and across the north of Swords, before receiving the Ward and flowing into the wide Broadmeadow Estuary, then into the Irish Sea past Malahide. The estuary is crossed by a railway embankment and bridge from Malahide.[21]

Swords is surrounded by a protected green belt. Dublin Airport has prevented the town from expanding further south and the large Broadmeadow Estuary and Malahide beyond limit expansion further east. To the north and west of Swords there is sparsely-populated, relatively flat, farmland.

The civil parish of Swords mainly lies in the ancient barony of Nethercross.[N 3] Swords Demesne is the name of the townland in the heart of the urban town of Swords.[N 4] It is one of 58 such geographic units in the civil parish. However, a single parcel of land, 5 acres in extent, is situated in the barony of Coolock[N 5] as an exclave of the civil parish proper.

There are 10 townlands in the electoral division of Swords, which is not co-terminous with the civil parish.

Swords Main Street at Malahide Road junction

The main retail area is located in the centre of the town, and includes Main Street, with the Pavilions and Swords Central combined shopping centres, and two smaller retail developments, Swords Plaza and Swords Town Mall. Most civic facilities are also in this central area, with some subsidiary shopping and civic centres in surrounding housing areas.

The west of the urban area is mainly residential, with the neighbourhoods of Applewood, Rathbeale and Brackenstown to the north of the Ward River and Knocksedan, River Valley, Rathingle and Boroimhe to the south side of the river.

The main business and industrial areas are located to the east of the town centre, along the R132 dual carriageway. These include Balheary Industrial Park, Swords Business Campus, Swords Business Park, and the Airside campus (Business Park, Retail Park and Motor Park). The neighbourhoods of Seatown, Holywell and Drynam are also to the east of the town core.

Swords has a postal address of County Dublin, and an eircode "routing key" of K67.

The climate of Swords is, like the rest of Ireland, classified as a maritime temperate climate (Cfb) according to the Köppen climate classification system. It is mild and changeable with abundant rainfall and a lack of temperature extremes. The hottest months of the year are June, July and August with temperatures of around 17 – 20 degrees. Swords gets rainfall all year round and the wettest months are October to January.

Swords has developed into one of the largest urban areas in Ireland. The town's population boom began in the 1970s with the construction of the sprawling Rivervalley Estate, then Ireland's largest private housing development, ahead of Kilnamanagh Estate in Tallaght North. It continued during the 1990s and 2000s, with many new residents moving to the area due to its proximity to work at Dublin Airport and various industrial estates.

At the 2011 census, the total urban population of greater Swords was 42,738. This wider area of Swords had a population density in 2011 of 3765/km², making it the most densely populated urban area in Ireland.[23]

Fingal County Council has referred to Swords as an "Emerging City", and have suggested that the overall area's population may reach 100,000 by 2035.

Fáilte Sord 2018 sculpture

Swords has good road links due to its proximity to Dublin city, which is the main focus for the Irish road network. The M1 Dublin-Belfast motorway passes along the eastern edge of the town and is the main route to/from Dublin City, Drogheda, Dundalk, Newry and Belfast. The M50 Dublin semi-orbital motorway passes to the south of the town and provides connections with all of the other main roads out of Dublin (N2, N3, N4, N7, N81 and M11). The R132 dual-carriageway by-passes the centre of Swords, and runs south to Dublin Airport and north to Balbriggan. The proposed Swords Western Ring Road dual carriageway is due to run from the M1 at Lissenhall, north of Swords, along the western edge of Swords to the M2 motorway at Cherryhound. Other main roads from Swords include the R106 to Malahide and Portmarnock, R108 to Ballyboughal and Naul, R125 to Ashbourne and the M2 motorway, R126 to Donabate and Portrane and R127 to Lusk and Skerries.

The town's Main Street is served by routes 33, 33A, 33B, 33N, 41, 41B, 41C, 41X, 43, 102 and 142 as well as Bus Éireann routes 101 and 101n, and Swords Express routes 500, 500x, 501, 501x and 502. Buses operate between Swords and Dublin city centre approximately every 5 minutes throughout the day, through a combination of Dublin Bus routes 33, 41, 41B, 41C, 41X & 43,[24] with a journey time of about an hour. Swords Express[25] operate express services through the Dublin Port Tunnel which take about 35 minutes. Other bus routes serving Swords include the 102 to Malahide, Portmarnock and Sutton, route 33b to Donabate and Portrane, routes 33 and 33a to Lusk, Rush, Skerries, and Balbriggan and Bus Éireann route 101 to Balbriggan, Julianstown and Drogheda. Connect Bus and Coach operate route H1 every 20 minutes between Dublin Airport and the Travelodge Hotel in Swords. On 2 December 2018, Dublin Bus routes 33a, 33b, and 102 transferred to Go-Ahead Ireland.

There are a number of long-distance bus services from the Atrium Road and coach park in Dublin Airport[26] to various locations throughout the country operated by Bus Éireann[27] and other private companies, including 50 daily services to Belfast (route 1/X2 & Aircoach[28]), 12 to Derry (route 33 & John Mc Ginley[29]), 11 to Letterkenny (route 32 & John Mc Ginley), 9 to Donegal (route 30), 3 to Sligo (route 23), 1 to Ballina (route 22), 52 to Galway (route 20, Citylink[30] & gobus[31]), 14 to Limerick (route 12 & JJ Kavanagh[32]), 24 to Cork (GoBé & Aircoach), 6 to Clonmel (JJ Kavanagh), 21 to Waterford (route 4/X4 & JJ Kavanagh) and 31 to Wexford (route 2, Ardcavan[33] & Wexford Bus[34]).

Swords has no railway services. The nearest railway stations are at Malahide and Donabate. Malahide is served by the frequent Dublin area rapid transit service to Bray, through the city centre. Both Malahide and Donabate are served by Dublin – Drogheda commuter services.

Swords is the only Dublin county town not to be served by rail, as Tallaght in South Dublin is served by the Luas light rail system, and Dún Laoghaire is served by the DART and Irish Rail services.

The Plaza, Swords

There are proposals for a light rapid transit line, the Metro North line, to run from St Stephen's Green to Swords via the Mater Hospital, Drumcondra Railway Station, Dublin City University, Ballymun and Dublin Airport. In 2015, the Government announced that Metro North would be redesigned to a cheaper cost. Construction of the line was proposed to begin in 2021 and be completed by 2026.

Three stops have been proposed within or near Swords (at Estuary, Swords Central, Fosterstown) with another at the airport (between Terminals 1 and 2). A further three stops were originally proposed but were refused planning permission.

Dublin Airport, the main airport in Ireland, is located at Collinstown, several kilometres to the south of Swords. The airport has direct flights to Britain, Europe, North America, North Africa and the Middle East. In 2019, 32.9 million passenger journeys were recorded,[35] and it is by far the busiest of the airports by total passenger traffic in Ireland. There are approximately 50 daily departures from Dublin to all six London airports, and as of 2014, Dublin – London was the world's 2nd busiest international air route, behind Hong Kong - Taipei.[36]

Knocksedan Heliport is a private heliport on the western side of Swords, run by Celtic Helicopters. The heliport has four hangars and they provide a helicopter wash facility and Jet A1 Fuel.[37] Irish Helicopters also use the heliport. They provide aerial crane, filming and survey services, helicopter charter and maintenance, spraying and special project services.[38]

Swords Castle

Swords Castle was built as the manorial residence of the 1st Archbishop of Dublin, John Comyn, around 1200 or a little later in Swords, just north of Dublin. It was never strong in the military sense, but covers a large pentagonal walled area of nearly 1.5 acres (6,000 m²) with a tower on the north and a gateway complex on the south. The adjoining chapel, built in the late thirteenth century, was probably used as the Archbishop's private oratory.

Other buildings, recorded in an inquisition in 1326, have now vanished, including the great hall on the east side of the enclosure. The Archbishop abandoned Swords once a new palace was built at Tallaght in 1324. The stepped battlements suggest some form of occupancy during the fifteenth century, but by 1583, when briefly occupied by Dutch Protestants, it was described as "the quite spoiled old castle". It was used as a garden in the nineteenth century and sold after the Church of Ireland was disestablished.

Swords Castle has undergone restoration and is open as a tourist attraction. The castle was used as a film location for the production of TV series The Tudors in spring 2010.[40]

On Well Road, and also known as St. Columb's Well. In a locked chamber. Reputed to be where Swords got its name when St. Colmcille blessed the well of clear water, 'Sord' being the Irish for 'clear or pure'.

St Colmcilles Well

St. Columba's Church and round tower

The round tower is the surviving remnant of St. Colmcille's monastic settlement. The only remaining relic of the medieval church is its belfry, from c. 1300, which is open to the public in the summertime. The original church is said to have fallen into ruin sometime in the seventeenth century. The new church of early Gothic style was built in 1811 on the foundations of the old.[41] The Sexton's Lodge was built in 1870. The body of Brian Boru was said to have been brought there in 1014 to be waked after the Battle of Clontarf, while on the way to be buried in Armagh.[42]

St Columba' s Church of Ireland church and graveyard

Located on Main Street, the building was designed by the architect Francis Johnston. In 2015, Wetherspoon bought the premises, and now operate The Old Borough as a public house.

St Colmcille's RC Church

On Chapel Lane, a pre-Catholic Emancipation church built in 1827 on a site donated by James Taylor of Swords House. The graveyard contains the headstones of nationalist politician Andrew Kettle, who was known as "Parnell’s Righthand Man."

Swords Courthouse

Designed by Alexander Tate, Swords Courthouse is located on North Street and was built in 1845 in Classical style.

Founded in 1668, the 350 year old Lord mayors is a Swords landmark. The thatched roof pub is the oldest structure in the village.[43]

The Lord mayors closed for business in April 2019[44] leaving the premises vacant, with some locals questioning the plan to build 172 apartments on the site of the historic structure.[45]

Fingal County Hall.

The award-winning modern Fingal County Hall by Bucholz McEvoy architects dominates the northern end of Main Street. It is built on the site of Swords House, the home of the Norman family, the Taylors of Swords. Records show the family arrived there in the 13th century and built a 'Mansion House' in 1403.

Swords library, located on Rathbeale Road, offers typical library services and runs cultural activities for children and adults.

Swords Historical Society, founded in 1982, is supported by volunteers who have worked to record, promote and preserve the heritage of the greater Swords area. The society's Museum and Heritage Centre at the Carnegie Library on North Street is run by volunteers and is open on weekday afternoons. The society's oral history project has produced an annual 'Swords Voices' publication, which chronicles the memories of local people.[39]

The Ward River Valley Park is a linear park on the banks of the Ward River approaching town. It covers an area of 89 ha. (220 acres) between Swords town centre and Knocksedan Bridge. Features include some 12th-century fortifications, woodland habitats, wetlands and rolling grassland. There are viewing points, picnic sites, sports pitches and tennis courts.[46]

Swords Town Park, with Ward River on left

Swords Town Park is a small park situated in the centre of the town of Swords, along the Ward River.[47] It has tennis courts and a playground. Swords Castle lies within the park. It is the former residence of the Archbishop of Dublin and it is the only fortified residence of the Archbishop to survive in a reasonable state today (see above).

Balheary Park is north of the town centre near the confluence of the Broadmeadow River and the Ward River, which flow to the northern and southern edges of the park. It meets Swords Business Campus / Balheary Business Park on three sides, and has some playing pitches which are used by Fingallians GAA club. In mid-2006, Fingal County Council built a skatepark and adjoining basketball courts/football court in Balheary Park. The park contains a bowl, a vertwall, a spine, some quarterpipes, and a section of boxes in the middle of the park.

The Broadmeadow Linear Park is a small park north of Applewood along the Broadmeadow River. Fingal County Council plan to extend the park eastwards to Balheary Park and westwards into the proposed Swords Regional Park.[48]

A little south of Swords, the National Show Centre is a modern exhibition and conference venue near to Dublin Airport.[49] It is owned by the Irish Kennel Club, who use it as their main venue for dog shows in Ireland.

The National Show Centre is used as the count centre during elections for the Dublin Fingal constituency.

In September 2013 a local campaign group approached Fingal County Council about the construction of a BMX track in the town. Fingal County Council said it has identified an area of the Ward River Valley that would be suitable for a BMX track, which could be developed quite quickly into a basic facility and improved over time. Prior to any works happening, the first stop is the formation of a club which would be fully insured and act to manage the facility.[50]

Swords Boxing Club is located in the former Carnegie Library on North Street. The club was established over 50 years ago and hosts many tournaments.

Fingal Boxing Academy is affiliated with the Irish Amateur Boxing Association, was the first boxing club in Ireland to train female boxers and has trained several national champions. The club is located in Rivervalley, Swords.

There are three Gaelic Athletic Association clubs local to Swords, and one more with pitches. These include Fingallians (based at Lawless Memorial Park), St. Finian's (Rivervalley), and St Colmcille's (Holybanks, Glen Ellan Road in the Applewood neighbourhood).

There are several golf courses close to the town, namely Swords Open Golf Course, Forrest Little Golf Club, Roganstown Golf and Country Club and Balheary "Par 3" Golf Course. There are also several driving ranges in the area with the Drynam Golf Centre being the first Driving Range in the country with automated tees.

Fingal Orienteers have mapped the Ward River Valley park, and the surrounding estates of Swords Manor, Brackenstown, River Valley and Knocksedan, and regularly hold orienteering events in the area.[51] They are also working on a new International Sprint Standard Orienteering map of the Applewood and Glen Ellan areas.

Swords RFC are a rugby union team playing in Division 3 of the Leinster League. The club is based out of ALSAA Sport Complex beside the airport and has 2 Men's teams and 1 Women's team. All teams train Tuesdays and Thursdays between July and April.

Swords Celtic FC, established in 1962, is one of the most successful association football (soccer) clubs in the town. It has four senior teams playing in the Leinster Senior League and many schoolboy/girl teams playing in the NDSL Leagues. The main pitch and clubhouse are located at Balheary, Swords, the club also has two floodlight seven a side pitches.

Other clubs in the area include Swords Manor FC (on Brackenstown Road),[52] Swords Rovers FC (former schoolboy club of Jeff Hendrick)[53] and Rivervalley Rangers (established in 1981).

Racquet sports clubs include Forest Badminton Club, River Valley Badminton Club, and Swords Tennis Club (based at Swords Town Park). Swords Hockey Club is a ladies club based in ALSAA Sports Grounds. There is also a basketball club in Swords.

In martial arts, there are several Taekwondo,[54] kickboxing,[55] karate,[56] and judo clubs in the area.[57]

The Fingal Horticultural Society holds their annual flower show in Swords every August.[58] It includes competition classes in Cut Flowers, Hanging Baskets, Pot Plants, Flower Arranging, Fruit, Vegetables, Cookery, Wine Making, Photography, Painting and Handcrafts, as well as special classes for children. The Fingal Horticultural Society also hold an annual Garden Competition, Allotment Competition and Pub Frontage Competition in Swords.

The first Flavours of Fingal Show took place in July 2012 in Newbridge House near Donabate. The farm section of the two-day show featured a program of livestock and sheep competitions, equestrian contests and other agricultural displays. Separately, the walled garden of Newbridge House hosted the food producers section of the show. During the festival, family and musical entertainment, walks and other events were held.[59]

In 2012 over 80 dog shows were held in the National Show Centre.[60] The Celtic Winners Dog Show, held on St. Patrick's Day, is the most prestigious dog show in the country.

The first Fingal 10k Road Race took place on 22 July 2012 on the roads around Swords. It was part of the Dublin Race Series, a series which culminates in the Dublin Marathon. Over 4200 people entered the first race, and the event has since been run annually.[61]

Swords is the home to a large retail and business park called Airside Retail and Business Park, on the southern fringe of the town, hosting many employers, including the European Headquarters of Kellogg's. Ingersoll Rand also has its corporate headquarters in the Airside Business Park.[62] East of the town, running parallel to Swords bypass, lies the large Swords Business Park, where The Hertz Corporation have a Shared Services Centre.

Swords also has a large shopping centre, the Pavilions Swords, off the R132, which has a multi-screen cinema and branches of SuperValu and Dunnes Stores.

Swords is the closest town to Dublin Airport and the airport has provided a lot of employment to the area. In 2011 the airport handled over 18.7 million passengers and served over 171 routes with 62 airlines.[63] The airport serves as an operating base for Aer Lingus, Aer Lingus Regional, Air Contractors, CityJet, Ryanair and Thomson Airways, and as a maintenance base for Aer Lingus, CityJet, Dublin Aerospace,[64] Eirtech Aviation,[65] Etihad Airways[66] and Ryanair.

The Irish Aviation Authority[67] operate the Dublin Air Traffic Control Centre on the airport.

The headquarters of the Dublin Airport Authority and Ireland's four largest airlines are located in or near Swords. The Dublin Airport Authority, who manage Dublin, Cork and Shannon Airports, employ over 3,000 people and have their headquarters on the airport campus.[68] Aer Lingus,[69] Ireland's flag carrier, have their headquarters on the Dublin Airport campus. CityJet, part of the Air France-KLM group, has its headquarters in Swords Business Campus[70] and Air Contractors, part of the ASL Aviation group, has its head office on the Malahide Road in Swords.[71] In 2014, Ryanair moved into a new €20m, 100,000 sq ft Dublin Head Office in Airside Business Park.[72] The building was officially opened in April 2014.

In 2007 Tesco Ireland opened their new €70 million distribution centre in Lanestown, between Swords and Donabate. With a building footprint of over 68,000 m² and a total volume of 1.55 million m² the Tesco Ireland distribution centre is the largest building on the island of Ireland and one of the 10 largest building in the world. The building is over half a kilometre long and could fit 16 jumbo jets. It has 106 loading bays and supplies 106 stores up to 6 times a day.[73]

Swords is the home to several international chemical producers and pharmaceutical giants, including Opec. Merck Sharp & Dohme (formally Organnon) employ over 500 people in their facility in Drynam, which manufactures women's health, anaesthesiology and mental health products.[74] Bristol Myers Squibb employ over 400 people in their Swords Laboratories bulk pharmaceutical plant on Watery Lane.[75] The Lonza Group employ 45 people in their European manufacturing facility for personal care and industrial biocides, also on Watery Lane.[76]

Swords is located in the centre of Fingal and is surrounded by farms growing crops like potatoes, wheat and barley. However, unlike the rest of Fingal, a lot of the food distributed from Swords has been imported from abroad.

FoodCentral, marketed as "Ireland's national food park," is being developed south-west of Swords.[77] When complete it will cover an area of 113 hectares.

The Keeling's Group, who employ over 1700 people, have their headquarters in FoodCentral and use a lot of land around Swords.[78] The Keeling's Farms division annually grow 2,500 tonnes of soft fruits/berries from 5 hectares of glasshouse, tunnel and field crops in Swords. They grow Bramley apples in 139 acres of orchards and lettuce in 8 acres of glasshouses. Their glasshouses also produce 1,500 tonnes of red, orange, yellow and green peppers annually.[79] Keeling's also operate a large banana ripening facility for Chiquita which ripens over 3 million bananas each week. They also have separate ripening rooms for other fruits.[80][81]

Total Produce,[82] Ireland's largest Agribusiness[83] have two large facilities in Swords. Their facility in Swords Business Park includes a distribution and ripening centre for Fyffes[84] Cape, Outspan, Green Ace and TOP Fruit products. Their "Uniplumo" facility on the Rathbeale Road,[85] has 46,000 square metres of glasshouses for growing plants, flowers and tomatoes.

The town is served by more than 10 primary schools. These include several gaelscoils,[86] a number of Educate Together schools,[87][88][89] and mixed and gender-specific national schools.[90][91] The latter includes both Church of Ireland and Roman Catholic schools.[92][93][94][95][96] A number of other primary schools are in planning or under construction.[97][98]

The secondary schools serving the town include Loreto College (all-girls school in River Valley),[99] Coláiste Choilm C.B.S. (all-boys school),[100] Fingal Community College (Seatown Road),[101] and St. Finian's Community College (Castlefarm).[102] A further community school, Swords Community College, is under construction on Rathbeale Road.[103]

Third level institutions with premises in Swords include Accounting Technicians Ireland and the Portobello Institute.[104][105] Land has also been reserved for a potential university campus at Lissenhall in north Swords.[106]

The National Learning Network, Fingal Adult Education Service and Swords Youthreach each have a presence in the area.[107][108][109]

There is also a FÁS training centre, the Fingal Adult Literacy and Education Centre, and a beauty college, registered with ITEC & CIBTAC, called Lenagh's College.

Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion in Swords. The town has six Roman Catholic churches. St. Colmcille's, the Church of the Visitation and Our Lady Queen of Heaven are all within Swords parish.[111][112][113] St. Cronan's and St. Finian's each belong to distinct parishes, while the Church of the Immaculate Conception lies within Donabate parish.[114][115][116]

There are also a further eight Christian churches and a retreat centre.[117] These include St. Columba's Church of Ireland church on Church Road,[118] and Baptist churches which meet in St. Finian's Community College and at Seatown West.[119][120]

Other Protestant and evangelical communities include the Apostolic Faith Church and Churchtown Trust.[121][122] The Syriac Orthodox Church meets as the St. Ignatius Jacobite Congregation in St Columba's Church of Ireland church.[123] Jehovah's Witnesses meet at a Kingdom Hall on Kettles Lane.[124]

The Dublin Welfare Society manage a makeshift mosque in a Swords industrial estate[125]

From "Irish Placenames Database". logainm.ie (in English and Irish). Archived from the original on 22 April 2010. Retrieved 11 December 2016.: