Swords Sord
Sord Cholmcille
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Town | |
North Street, Swords
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Motto: Your Swords, an Emerging City | |
Location in Ireland | |
Coordinates: 53°27′35″N 6°13′05″W / 53.4597°N 6.2181°WCoordinates: 53°27′35″N 6°13′05″W / 53.4597°N 6.2181°W | |
Country | Ireland |
Province | Leinster |
Region | Dublin |
County | Fingal |
EU Constituency | Dublin |
Dáil Constituencies | Dublin West |
Local Electoral Areas | Swords, Malahide |
Founded | 560 |
County Town | 1994 |
Founded by | St Colmcille |
Named for | (possibly) St Colmcille's Well |
County Hall | Main Street, Swords |
Electoral Divisions |
7
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Government | |
• Type | Local Authority |
• Body | Fingal County Council |
• Mayor | Darragh Butler (Fianna Fáil) |
• Deputy Mayor | Eithne Loftus |
• County Manager | David O'Connor |
• Deputy County Manager | Michael Lorigan |
• Director of Planning | Gilbert Power |
Area | |
• Swords Local Electoral Area | 114.02 km2 (44.02 sq mi) |
• Urban | 11.35 km2 (4.38 sq mi) |
• Metro | 15.99 km2 (6.17 sq mi) |
Area rank | 1 |
• Swords CT | 10.21 km2 (3.94 sq mi) |
• Kinsealy-Drinan CT | 1.14 km2 (0.44 sq mi) |
Source: CSO Sapmap Viewer | |
Dimensions | |
• Length | 5.15 km (3.20 mi) |
• Width | 4.04 km (2.51 mi) |
Highest elevation | 60 m (200 ft) |
Lowest elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
Population (2011) | |
• Swords Local Electoral Area | 68,583 |
• Rank | 1 |
• Density | 531/km2 (1,380/sq mi) |
• Density rank | 1 |
• Urban | 42,738 |
• Urban density | 3,765/km2 (9,750/sq mi) |
• Swords CT | 36,924 |
• Swords CT density | 3,615/km2 (9,360/sq mi) |
• Kinsealy-Drinan CT | 5,814 |
• Kinsealy-Drinan CT density | 5,101/km2 (13,210/sq mi) |
Source: Census 2011 | |
Demonym(s) | Fingalian |
Ethnic or Cultural Background | |
• White Irish | 30946 |
• White Other | 7089 |
• Asian or Asian Irish | 1169 |
• Black or Black Irish | 1142 |
• White Irish Traveller | 96 |
Religion | |
• Roman Catholic | 34021 |
• Orthodox | 1335 |
• Protestant | 944 |
• Other Christian | 850 |
• Muslim | 569 |
Time zone | WET (UTC0) |
• Summer (DST) | WEST (UTC+1) |
Postal Hub | DUBLIN K67 |
Postal Sorting Office | SWORDS |
Dialing Code | +353(0)1 |
Geocode | O184469 |
ISO 3166 code | IE-D |
Vehicle registration | D |
Swords (from Irish: Sord or Sord Cholmcille) is the county town of Fingal in County Dublin, Ireland. It is variously defined as an expansive satellite town within commuting distance of Dublin city, as a large suburb of the capital and as an emerging city in its own right. It is about 13 km north of Dublin city centre. The name "Swords" may also be applied to the townland, to the civil parish or to the local electoral area. At the 2011, census the total urban population of greater Swords was 42,738 but when local electoral area definitions are taken into account, the population is 68,583. It lies in Dublin's K67 postal code routing area, commonly known as eircode in Ireland. Its proximity to Dublin Airport has made it one of the most significant hubs in the capital - even though it doesn't have its own rail service. However, Dublin's planned metro north will link with Swords.
Fingal County Council's Strategic Vision for Swords is to create a sustainable new city. They have referred to Swords as an "emerging city" and project that the population of Swords will rise towards 100,000 by the year 2035. The town is the seventh largest urban area in the country, and the second largest in County Dublin.
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. 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. Following a huge improvement to litter in the town, in their 2011 survey Swords was declared the second cleanest town in Ireland.