Swords, Ireland
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Swords Sord
Sord Cholmcille
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| Town | |
North Street, Swords
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| Motto: Your Swords, an Emerging City | |
 Swords
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| 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 Constituency | Dublin Fingal |
| 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 | Mary McCamley (Labour) |
| • Deputy Mayor | Adrian Henchy |
| • 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 Ireland. 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, known as eircode in Ireland.
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 third largest in County Dublin, after Dublin City and Tallaght.
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 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.
The town's origins date back to 560 AD when it was 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. St. Colmcille's Well is located on Well Road off Main Street. Sord may also refer to a "sward", an 'expanse of grass'. The most ubiquitous landscape indicators of Early Christian Settlement are the ecclesiastical enclosures. In Swords case 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 north – south direction. Swords has one of the best examples of this settlement pattern in the Dublin region. The round tower, 26m in height, is also an indicator of early Christian settlement. 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 an elevation known as Spittal Hill, where a hospital once stood.
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