Swords

Dublin, Ireland

Swords (from the Irish: Sord Cholm Cille) is a suburban town and the county town of Fingal, and is located about 13 km from Dublin's city centre. The town can trace its origins 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 "poor". Swords is a socio-economically mixed area with the local housing stock being made up of private and local authority housing. Since the mid 1990s Swords has seen improvements in shop fronts, public buildings, footpaths and the restoration of Swords Castle. The 2009 Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) Survey scored Swords the 6th cleanest town in Ireland in their independently assessed nationwide survey of all towns with a population of 6,000 and over.Notable residents include Ed Byrne (comedian) and Ronan Keating (singer-songwriter).

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Area Statistics

Area:	17.8 square km
Population:	22756
Population Density:	1278 people/km ²

Age
Under 15 :	22.0 %	National 20.4 %
15 - 24 :	16.1 %	14.9 %
25 - 34 :	22.0 %	17.0 %
35 - 44 :	17.1 %	14.7 %
45 - 54 :	11.6 %	12.3 %
55 - 64 :	6.8 %	9.6 %
65 & Over :	4.3 %	11.0 %

Marital Status
Single :	57.6 %	National 54.7 %
Married :	35.9 %	36.9 %
Separated :	2.6 %	2.5 %
Divorced :	1.7 %	1.4 %
Widowed :	2.0 %	4.5 %

Commuter Type
Car :	55.9 %	National 63.7 %
Walk :	21.8 %	17.5 %
Bicycle :	1.5 %	2.2 %
Bus :	18.6 %	13.2 %
Rail :	1.4 %	2.9 %
Motorbike :	0.7 %	0.6 %

Commute Time
< 15 mins :	33.1 %	National 37.7 %
15 - 29 mins :	26.6 %	30.5 %
30 - 44 mins :	14.4 %	16.6 %
45 - 59 mins :	7.5 %	6.1 %
60 - 89 mins :	13.6 %	6.4 %
> 90 mins :	4.8 %	2.7 %

Social Class
Managerial & Technical :	25.8 %	National 26.4 %
Professional :	4.7 %	6.5 %
Non-manual :	22.8 %	17.0 %
Skilled-manual :	18.1 %	17.1 %
Semi-skilled :	11.2 %	11.1 %
Unskilled :	3.5 %	4.3 %
Other :	13.9 %	17.6 %

Religion
Catholic :	85.9 %	National 88.3 %
Other :	9.0 %	7.2 %
None :	5.1 %	4.5 %

Housing
House :	88.2 %	National 89.2 %
Apartment :	11.1 %	9.7 %
Bedsit :	0.2 %	0.6 %
Mobile home :	0.5 %	0.5 %

Education (Highest Achieved)
Secondary :	46.2 %	National 41.7 %
No formal :	0.3 %	0.6 %
Primary :	10.4 %	18.3 %
Technical or Vocational :	10.4 %	9.0 %
Non-Degree :	12.7 %	11.1 %
Primary Degree :	7.1 %	6.1 %
Professional Qualification :	6.1 %	6.3 %
Postgraduate Cert. or Diploma :	3.5 %	3.3 %
Masters :	2.9 %	3.1 %
Ph.D. :	0.3 %	0.5 %

Third Level Qualification
Social Sciences, Business Law :	25.8 %	National 21.3 %
Education :	5.7 %	7.6 %
Arts & Humanities :	9.1 %	10.1 %
Science :	5.0 %	5.2 %
Computing :	8.1 %	6.8 %
Engineering :	13.0 %	12.5 %
Agricultural & Veterinary :	1.8 %	2.6 %
Health :	9.3 %	12.3 %
Social Services :	3.7 %	3.2 %
Services :	8.4 %	6.2 %
Multiple Subjects :	10.1 %	12.3 %

Employment (by Industry)
Commerce & Trade :	39.3 %	National 29.1 %
Forestry & Fishing :	1.2 %	1.5 %
Construction :	7.6 %	10.2 %
Manufacturing :	11.9 %	15.6 %
Public Service :	7.9 %	6.6 %
Professional Services :	14.4 %	19.7 %
Other :	17.7 %	17.4 %