NatChurch / chapel · 1810–1820Saint Columba's Church (Swords)Church Road, SwordsPhoto: Darcydwyer · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons file
Saint Columba's Church (Swords) · Photo: Darcydwyer · CC BY-SA 4.036buildings on the National Inventory
History of Swords · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
Swords: 36 buildings on the National Inventory, one of them of national importance
The Sites and Monuments Record marks Swords as a historic town and lists 43 archaeological sites inside it. Of its homes, 0.4% were built before 1919, against 3.4% in the typical town. Its oldest building dates from 1650. Swords has 8.8 buildings on the record for every 10,000 residents, against 48 in the typical town.
On the National Inventory
36
8.8 per 10,000 residents
typical town: 48
typical town: 48
Of national importance
1
NIAH National or International, and national monuments
Archaeological sites
43
Sites and Monuments Record
Oldest building
1650
the first date on its record
Homes built before 1919
0.4%
typical town: 3.4%
In pictures
Swords’s buildings in 11 pictures
Look out for Saint Columba's Church (Swords) and Swords Castle. 9 of the places on Swords’s record are pictured here; the others show their record card. The oldest building in Swords’s set dates from 1810: Saint Columba's Church (Swords).
Swords CastleArchaeological monument (SMR)
Scotchstone BridgeRegional rating (NIAH)
Balheary BridgeRegional rating (NIAH)
Lissenhall BridgesRegional rating (NIAH)
Catholic Church of the Immaculate ConceptionRegional rating (NIAH)+6See all photosPhotos from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its licence; names open the place’s page. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
The map
Where Swords’s history is
Every building and site on the record inside the town, by its rating.
National and InternationalRegional and other sites
Hover a dot for its name; tap one to open its page.
The 37, by rating
1 National and International36 Regional and other sites
The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage is the State’s survey of buildings from 1700 to today, county by county; each record gives a rating, dates, a type and an appraisal. Being on it is not legal protection: that is each council’s Record of Protected Structures.
Points from the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage and the Sites and Monuments Record, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (CC BY 4.0).
National and International
One place of national importance in Swords
Buildings the National Inventory rates National or International: of significance across Ireland or beyond. Each one opens its own page.
Regional and other sites
36 more historic places in Swords
Buildings rated Regional, of significance in their region, and archaeological monuments with an encyclopedia article.
All 25, A to Z
Ard DruimBalheary BridgeBrackenstown House (country house)Glenview HouseKnocksedan HouseLissenhall BridgesLissenhall BridgesMill BridgeMill BridgeNewtown BridgeNewtown HouseOld Borough National SchoolPastorvilleSaint Colmcille's Catholic ChurchSaint Columb's WellSaint Columcille's National SchoolSaint Finian's Catholic ChurchScotchstone BridgeSexton's house, Saint Columba's Church (Swords)Swords Boys' National SchoolSwords Carnegie Free LibrarySwords CastleSwords CourthouseThe Old VicarageThe Star
11 recorded by their type and address
11 are recorded only by their type and address: 6 homes, 2 public buildings and 2 street furniture; most date from the 19th century.
18th century1
19th century8
20th century2
Historic streets
Church Road has the most
Streets with three or more buildings on the record, by the address it gives.
Church Road6 on the record · 1 of national importance
Main Street5 on the record
North Street5 on the record
Balheary Road3 on the record
Seatown Road3 on the record
Of the 37 records, 30 give a street address.
What’s recorded
More public buildings than the national record: 17% in Swords, 6% across Ireland
The record in Swords runs as late as 1985. 16 records, 44%, are homes. Second on the record: walls, gates and bridges, 7 of them.
Homes16
Walls, gates and bridges7
Public buildings6
Churches and chapels3
Street furniture2
Other buildings2
Types as the National Inventory records them, grouped; a building keeps the type it was built as.
How old
Most of Swords’s dated buildings come from the 19th century
Each building by the first date on its record.
1500–1799 three centuries4
19th century 1800–189924
1900 and later to today8
4 of the 36 dated ones were built before 1800. The oldest is The Old Vicarage, from 1650.
Archaeology and around
Archaeology in Swords
The Sites and Monuments Record lists every known archaeological site; most are field monuments with little to see. By kind:
43 archaeological sites inside the town
Sites on the Record of Monuments and Places, the statutory list drawn from this record, are protected by law: anyone planning work at or near one must give the National Monuments Service two months’ notice.
| Ring-ditch4 records |
| Burial ground3 records |
| Graveslab3 records |
| Ritual site - holy well3 records |
| Cross-slab (present location)3 records |
| Ecclesiastical enclosure2 records |
| Enclosure2 records |
| Burial2 records |
| Structure1 record |
| Castle - motte and bailey1 record |
| Mound1 record |
| Fish-pond1 record |
| Windmill1 record |
| Castle - Anglo-Norman masonry castle1 record |
| Graveyard1 record |
| 14 more kinds14 records |
Just outside Swords: 22
| Rathbeale Hall (country house)National rating (NIAH) · 1.3 km outside the town |
| Cloghran Parish ChurchArchaeological monument (SMR) · 1.2 km outside the town |
| Rathbeale Hall (coach house)Regional rating (NIAH) · 1.3 km outside the town |
| Lissen Hall BridgeRegional rating (NIAH) · 100 m outside the town |
| Rathbeale Hall (stables)Regional rating (NIAH) · 1.3 km outside the town |
| Rathbeale Hall (farmyard complex)Regional rating (NIAH) · 1.3 km outside the town |
| Murray's BridgeRegional rating (NIAH) · 700 m outside the town |
| Knocksedan BridgeRegional rating (NIAH) · 100 m outside the town |
| Lissen Hall LittleRegional rating (NIAH) · 600 m outside the town |
| Roganstown BridgeRegional rating (NIAH) · 2.1 km outside the town |
| Brackenstown House (gate lodge)Regional rating (NIAH) · 100 m outside the town |
| Roganstown HouseRegional rating (NIAH) · 2.2 km outside the town |
| Leas HouseRegional rating (NIAH) · 900 m outside the town |
| Rathbeale Hall (gate lodge)Regional rating (NIAH) · 1.7 km outside the town |
| Catholic Church of the Immaculate ConceptionRegional rating (NIAH) · 500 m outside the town |
| Rathbeale Hall (outbuilding)Regional rating (NIAH) · 1.3 km outside the town |
| Rathbeale Hall (gate lodge)Regional rating (NIAH) · 1.2 km outside the town |
| SommervilleRegional rating (NIAH) · 800 m outside the town |
| Killeek BridgeRegional rating (NIAH) · 600 m outside the town |
| House, BrazilRegional rating (NIAH) · 100 m outside the town |
Homes by age
10% of Swords’s homes are newer than 2011 (5.8% is typical)
Swords added comparatively little between the wars: 0.6% of its homes, the typical town 3.9%. Look at when Swords’s homes went up and one period leads: from 1981 to 2000, with 36%. Half of the homes standing in Swords today were built before 2001.
0.4%
Before 1919
0.6%
1919–45
22%
1946–80
36%
1981–2000
31%
2001–10
10%
Since 2011
SwordsTypical town
Census 2022, households by the year their home was built (CSO, Small Area Population Statistics, CC BY 4.0); the typical town is the middle Irish town of 2,500 or more.
Neighbours
Swords and its neighbours
In brief
Swords in brief
Swords has 37 places on the record, 1 of them in the top tier, including Saint Columba's Church (Swords). Most of its dated monuments come from the 19th century: 24 of 36. The oldest, The Old Vicarage, dates from 1650.
Its homes are mostly newer: 0.4% were built before 1919, against 3.4% in the typical town. It also has 43 archaeological sites on the record. The rest is about typical: it has 36 recorded buildings, about typical for a town its size (the middle one has 169); per resident it sits near the middle of Irish towns of 2,500 or more; and Francis Taylor (1550) and Richard Molesworth, 3rd Viscount Molesworth (1680) were born here before 1900.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The National Inventory. The State’s survey of post-1700 buildings, made county by county since 1990 (NIAH); a few records are older. It records; it does not protect.
- Ratings. International and National: of significance across Ireland or beyond. Regional: in its region. Local and record-only buildings get no page here.
- Archaeology. The Sites and Monuments Record (National Monuments Service) lists known archaeological sites; the national monuments to visit and the sites with an encyclopedia article get pages here.
- Protection. Both registers are surveys, not protection: a building is protected by its council’s Record of Protected Structures, and no national open list joins the 31 councils’ records.
- The grade. Ireland’s History grade is not built yet: the page describes, and gives no grade.
Questions about Swords’s history
How many historic buildings are recorded in Swords?
36 buildings on the National Inventory, one of them of national importance, from the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
Which places in Swords are of national importance?
Saint Columba's Church (Swords).
What is the oldest building in Swords?
The Old Vicarage: the first date on its record is 1650.
Are there archaeological sites in Swords?
Yes: the Sites and Monuments Record lists 43 archaeological sites inside Swords.
How old are the homes in Swords?
0.4% of its homes were built before 1919, against 3.4% in the typical town.
Are the buildings on this page protected?
Being on the National Inventory or the Sites and Monuments Record is a record, not protection by itself: buildings are protected by their council’s Record of Protected Structures, which each council keeps and no national open list gathers, so this page can’t say which are on it.
This page describes its history; it gives no grade.
Source: National Inventory of Architectural Heritage and Sites and Monuments Record, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (CC BY 4.0); Wikidata (CC0).
Sources: National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (buildingsofireland.ie) · Sites and Monuments Record and the National Monuments Service’s monuments to visit · CSO Census 2022 (homes by the year built) · Photos: Wikimedia Commons, including the National Library of Ireland’s collections, each credited with its licence and copied to our own server · Wikidata and English Wikipedia for people born here · Wikidata (CC0) for other names and articles. Under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).
Contains Central Statistics Office (CSO) data, Census 2022, and Tailte Éireann boundaries (CSO Urban Areas, Small Areas, local electoral areas, constituencies), under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).