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Swords Sord Cholm Cille
Location
WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 53.4597° N 6.2181° W
Irish Grid Reference O184469
Statistics
Province:	Leinster
County:	Fingal
Elevation:	3 m
Population (2006)	33,100 [1]

Swords (Sord Cholm Cille in Irish) is a medium sized suburb on the northside of the city of Dublin, Ireland. In 1994 Swords became the capital of the then newly established county of Fingal, and in 2001 it became the administrative centre for the county upon the completion of the €12m Fingal County Hall.

The town can trace its origins dating back to 560, having been founded by Saint Colmcille (521-567). Legend has it that the saint blessed a local well, giving the town 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.

Swords is a socio-economically mixed town where predominatly working class local authority housing estates are to be found next to private housing estates. It is the home to a large amount of Dublin's chemical plants such as Opec and Squibbs and also to a large industrial estate on the eastern fringe of the town. There is also a sprawling industrial/retail park found on the southern fringes of the town (the Airside retail park).

The town has seen unprecedented growth in the last 15 years and has the highest projected future growth for the next 20 years of any town in the Dublin Region. This is contributed to by the town's proximity to Dublin airport, large undeveloped green spaces north and west of the town, and the relative cheapness of local housing. Its population at the 2006 census was 37,806. The town is heavily under the influence of Dublin Airport and is disconnected from the city by a tight green belt around the airport. However, Swords would more resemble a north city suburb rather than a county town, such as Lusk or Rush.

The growth of the area since the early seventies has been extraordinary, with the majority of the new residents coming from neighbouring northside towns such as Coolock, Ballymun, Santry and Artane. The main bus route to the city centre from Swords is the 41. However, the 43 bus route brings Swords people to the city centre via Coolock (even though this is not an economical way of reaching the city centre from Swords). The new Metro route north catering to the Swords area will service Ballymun and Drumcondra,which will be of use to residents of a north-west Dublin origin, as well as residents commuting to the city centre.

The castle of Swords is undergoing a significant redevelopment and will become a centre of leisure and a tourist attraction. The body of Brian Boru was brought there after the Battle of Clontarf, though recent evidence would suggest that this was Swords Abbey which lies at slightly to the west of the Main Street.

By the late eighties, Swords main street had quite a grotty appearance, with few amenities in the area and many derelict old houses and industrial sites along the Main St./Dublin Road area. The council allowed a bar extension along the Main St. to encourage development in the town.

Many of the traditional bars that dotted the Main St. were transformed into modern super pubs and now Swords has one of the biggest night life scenes on the north side of Dublin. The town has over a dozen bars such as The Slaughtered Lamb, The Star, The Old Boro, The Harp and Wrights. It also has a great collection of restaurants such as Trentunos, The Pink Elephant and The Old School House. The latter has won many awards. Also in Swords is 'The Pound' on Bridge Street which remains the only pub still operating which is attached to Swords Castle. The Pound is also birthplace of 'The Cheeky Lawless' cocktail which has gained in popularity in North Co. Dublin and the pub is affectionately known as 'The Office' to many of it's regulars.

After many years battling against its dirty town tag, the Swords area, through the effort of local residents and Fingal County Council under the leadership of Mayor Ronan McCall, has gone from being voted dirtiest town in Ireland (2003, 2004) in an Irish Businesses Against Litter survey to receiving the tag of 'only slightly littered' in the 2006 survey.

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 225 council housing units in the Applewood development in Swords. This is the first such public/private housing development to take place in Fingal where private development is inter-mixed with local authority housing. It has been such a success that Fingal C.C. are considering implementing such a development in the Blanchardstown area. The Rivervalley Estate, in the south of the town, was up until recent years the second largest estate in Ireland and despite the huge development in Swords still contributes to over a third of the town's population.

• [1] Population list of Irish towns.
• SwordsDublin.com is a lively community site dedicated to the town of Swords.
• Movies@Swords Cinema
• www.SwordsTown.com Swords Community Site - Contains Local News, Events, Links and a Messageboard
• Directory of businesses in Swords