Demographics of Swords

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1813		—
1821	1,727	—
1831	2,537	+46.9%
1841	1,788	−29.5%
1851	1,294	−27.6%
1861	1,296	+0.2%
1871	1,008	−22.2%
1881	1,088	+7.9%
1891	983	−9.7%
1901	944	−4.0%
1911	907	−3.9%
1926	839	−7.5%
1936	838	−0.1%
1946	703	−16.1%
1951	1,136	+61.6%
1956	1,629	+43.4%
1961	1,816	+11.5%
1966	1,892	+4.2%
1971	4,133	+118.4%
1981	11,138	+169.5%
1986	15,312	+37.5%
1991	17,705	+15.6%
1996	22,314	+26.0%
2002	27,175	+21.8%
2006	37,762	+39.0%
2011	42,738	+13.2%

Fingal County Hall.

Swords (a self-contained town outside Historic Dublin County and modern Fingal County) has developed into the largest town in Ireland. The town's population boom began in the 1970s with the construction of the sprawling Rivervalley Estate, Ireland's largest private housing development, ahead of Kilnamanagh Estate in Tallaght North, and continued during the 1990s and 2000s, with many new residents moving to the area due to its proximity to their work at Dublin Airport. Swords is accessed by the R132 and the M1 motorway.

At the 2011 census the total urban population was 42,738, which makes it the largest town in the Republic of Ireland, although not officially recognised. Unlike most large towns, Swords does not have a town council or any legal boundaries. Towns which do not have legal boundaries are classified as Census Towns for statistical reasons and are given borders by the Central Statistics Office. However, when they gave borders to the Swords census town they excluded the Drynam and Holywell housing estates, and considered them as a separate census town of "Kinsealy-Drinan". The "Swords" census town had a population of 36,924 (the third largest in Ireland), and the "Kinsealy-Drinan" census town had a population of 5,814. This contradicts their own guidelines which say that borders will be extended to include all occupied dwellings within 100 metres of an existing building.^[1] According to the CSO's own SAPMAP viewer, there is definitely less than 100 meters between the two census towns, down to only 10 metres at one point.^[2] The two census towns are part of the same urban area, and are both within the Swords development boundary, as defined by Fingal County Council.^[3] When put together they have a total population of 42,738, well ahead of Irelands official largest town, Drogheda (38,578). The reason that two census towns were identified is probably because of an area of undeveloped land between them at Barryparks. This land has been left undeveloped because Fingal County Council has reserved it for commercial use to allow Swords develop its own city centre. This problem can't be resolved until at least the next census in 2016, although it could also be resolved by applying legal boundaries to Swords, covering the entire developed urban area.

Fingal County Council have referred to Swords as an "Emerging City", and expect that the town's (or city's) population will reach 100,000 by 2035.

The town is close to Dublin Airport, and is separated from the city by a narrow green belt around the airport.

Main Street c.1898.

The table below contains the population breakdown by Census Towns and Electoral Divisions (ED's) in Swords, taken from the 2011 census results.^[4]

These are the 2011 Ethnic groups for Swords.

70.2% White Irish (30,946 people)

17.0% Other White (7,089 people)

2.7% Asian (1169 people)

2.6% Black (1142 people)

0.4% Irish Traveller (96 people)

7.1% Other/Not Stated (2096 people)

Total (All Ethnic groups): 42,738

Census 2011

Sex, age and marital status

Population by sex and age group[5][6]

Age Male Female Total 00-04 2213 1986 4199 05-09 1527 1512 3039 10-14 1353 1284 2637 15-19 1311 1181 2492 20-24 1402 1488 2890 25-29 2053 2339 4392 30-34 2655 2753 5408 35-39 2119 2117 4236 40-44 1637 1715 3352 45-49 1375 1532 2907 50-54 1118 1177 2295 55-59 780 852 1632 60-64 595 641 1236 65-69 425 445 870 70-74 263 232 495 75-79 120 192 312 80-84 59 114 173 85+ 44 129 173 Total 21049 21689 42738

Population by sex and marital status[5][6]
Status Males Females Total Single 12247 11932 24179 Married 7770 7744 15514 Separated 429 676 1105 Divorced 414 636 1050 Widowed 189 701 890 Total 21049 21689 42738

Migration and ethnicity

Usually resident population by place of birth and nationality[5][6]
Location Birthplace Ireland 32007 UK 1891 Poland 2291 Lithuania 606 Other EU 27 2870 Rest of World 2701 Not stated 0 Total 42366

Usually resident population by ethnic or cultural background[5][6]
Ethnic background Persons White Irish 31429 White Irish Traveller 96 Other White 7130 Black or Black Irish 1155 Asian or Asian Irish 1173 Other 459 Not stated 924 Total 42366

Usually resident population aged 1 and over by usual residence 1 year before Census Day[5][6]
Residence Persons Same Address 37855 Elsewhere in County 2656 Elsewhere in Ireland 316 Outside Ireland 667 Total 41494

Population by religion[5][6]
Religion Persons Catholic 34021 Other stated religion 4711 No religion 3006 Not stated 1000 Total 42738

Speakers of foreign languages by language spoken[5][6]
Language Persons Polish 2336 French 620 Lithuanian 514 Other 5476 Total 8946

Speakers of foreign languages by ability to speak English[5][6]
Ability Persons Very well 3887 Well 3070 Not well 1378 Not at all 298 Not stated 313 Total 8946

Irish language

Population aged 3 or over by ability to speak Irish[5][6]
Ability Persons Yes 14126 No 24947 Not stated 967 Total 40040

Irish speakers aged 3 or over by frequency of speaking Irish[5][6]
Frequency Persons Speaks Irish Daily, within education system only 4475 Speaks Irish Daily, within and also outside education system 322 Outside education system, Daily 344 Outside education system, Weekly 725 Outside education system, Less often 4254 Outside education system, Never 3909 Outside education system, Not stated 97 Total 14126

Irish speakers within education aged 3+, by frequency of speaking Irish outside education[5][6]
Frequency Persons Males Females Daily 186 66 120 Weekly 56 25 31 Less often 36 14 22 Never 44 17 27 Total 322 122 200

Families

Families, family members and children in families, by size of family[5][6]
Size of family Number of families Number of persons in families Number of children in families 2 persons 4390 8780 1157 3 persons 2946 8838 3546 4 persons 2702 10808 5630 5 persons 1107 5535 3373 6 or more persons 339 2112 1449 Total 11484 36073 15155

Family units with children by size and age of children[5][6]
All children under 15 All children 15 or over Children both under and over 15 Total No children 0 0 0 3233 1 child 2146 1357 0 3503 2 children 1764 840 472 3076 3 children 592 234 455 1281 4 children 135 48 132 315 5 or more children 22 6 48 76

Family units with children by type of family and age of children[5][6]

Number of families Couples with children Lone mothers with children Lone fathers with children All children aged under fifteen 3620 981 58 All children aged over fifteen 1695 648 142 Other 886 201 20 Total number of family units 6201 1830 220 Number of children Couples with children Lone mothers with children Lone fathers with children All children aged under fifteen 6520 1499 84 All children aged over fifteen 2834 937 190 Other 2478 564 49 Total number of family units 11832 3000 323

Families by age of youngest child[5][6]
Number of families Number of family members 0–4 years 3243 11850 5–9 years 1423 5407 10–14 years 1100 4209 15–19 years 989 3574 20+ years 1496 4567 Total 8251 29607

Families by family cycle[5][6]
Family cycle Number of families Number of family members Pre-family 2020 4040 Empty nest 814 1628 Retired 399 798 Pre-school 1979 6220 Early school 1450 5351 Pre-Adolescent 1230 4811 Adolescent 1295 5050 Adult 2297 8175 Total 11484 36073

Females aged 20 years or over by number of children born alive[5][6]
Number of children born Number of females 0 5477 1 2687 2 3466 3 2015 4 or more 1504 Total 15149

Private Households

Private households by type[5][6]

Type of Household Households Persons One person 2471 2471 Husband and wife 1767 3534 Cohabiting couple 968 1936 Husband, wife and children 5036 20036 Cohabiting couple and children 646 2338 Father and children 177 441 Mother and children 1495 4037 Couple and others 341 1209 Couple, children and others 353 1745 Father, children and others 32 122 Mother, children and others 162 597 Two or more family units 250 1385 Non-family households and relations 367 911 Two or more non-related persons 741 1997 Total 14806 42759

Private households by size[5][6]
Size of family Households Persons 1 person 2471 2471 2 persons 4285 8570 3 persons 3166 9498 4 persons 2957 11828 5 persons 1381 6905 6 persons 404 2424 7 persons 93 651 8 or more persons 49 412 Total 14806 42759

Housing

Swords is a socio-economically mixed area with the local housing stock being made up of private and local authority housing.

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 138 council housing units in the Applewood development in Swords.^[7] This is the first such public-private housing development to take place in Fingal where private development is inter-mixed with local authority housing. This successful pilot scheme has been replicated in the south of the town in the Boroimhe Estate and also in the Mulhuddart area.

A view from the 1790s.

Private households by type of accommodation[5][6]
Type of accommodation Households Persons House/Bungalow 11954 36293 Flat/Apartment 2516 5515 Bed-sit 13 33 Caravan/Mobile Home 8 20 Not stated 315 898 Total 14806 42759

Permanent private households by year built[5][6]
Year Built Households Persons Pre 1919 49 121 1919 to 1945 70 180 1946 to 1960 201 503 1961 to 1970 747 1996 1971 to 1980 1953 5607 1981 to 1990 2486 7730 1991 to 2000 2739 8782 2001 to 2005 4208 11437 2006 or later 1438 3544 Not stated 907 2839 Total 14798 42739

Permanent private households by type of occupancy[5][6]
Type of occupancy Households Persons Owner occupied with mortgage 7599 22694 Owner occupied no mortgage 2642 6624 Rented from Private Landlord 3517 10569 Rented from Local Authority 628 1823 Rented from Voluntary Body 123 354 Occupied free of rent 67 126 Not stated 222 549 Total 14798 42739

Permanent private households by number of rooms[5][6]
Number of rooms Households Persons 1 room 138 261 2 rooms 907 1964 3 rooms 1619 4374 4 rooms 2025 4782 5 rooms 4267 12079 6 rooms 2609 8264 7 rooms 1737 5915 8 or more rooms 959 3707 Not stated 537 1393 Total 14798 42739

Permanent private households by central heating[5][6]
Central heating type Households No central heating 54 Oil 2100 Natural Gas 11413 Electricity 887 Coal (including anthracite) 78 Peat (including turf) 7 Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) 21 Wood (including wood pellets) 7 Other 15 Not stated 216 Total 14798

Permanent private households by water supply[5][6]
Water supply Households Public main 13542 Group scheme with local authority source 688 Group scheme with private source 16 Other private source 10 None 0 Not stated 542 Total 14798

Permanent private households by sewerage facility[5][6]
Sewerage facility Households Public scheme 13838 Individual septic tank 141 Other individual treatment 25 Other 53 No sewerage facility 10 Not stated 731 Total 14798

Occupancy status of permanent dwellings on Census night[5][6]
Occupancy Dwellings Occupied 14818 Unoccupied 1125 Total 15943

Communal Establishments

Persons in Communal Establishments[5][6]
Number of establishments 16 Number of persons 481

Principal Status

Population aged 15 years and over by principal economic status and sex[5][6]
Principal Economic Status Male Female Total At work 10806 10169 20975 Looking for first regular job 167 152 319 Unemployed having lost or given up previous job 1856 1271 3127 Student 1595 1536 3131 Looking after home/family 112 2201 2313 Retired 1023 915 1938 Unable to work due to permanent sickness or disability 380 626 1006 Other 17 37 54 Total 15956 16907 32863

Social Class and Socio-Economic Group

Population by sex and social class[5][6]
Social Class Male Female Total Professional workers 1316 1132 2448 Managerial and technical 6040 6539 12579 Non-manual 3487 5722 9209 Skilled manual 4396 2336 6732 Semi-skilled 2480 2110 4590 Unskilled 714 653 1367 All others gainfully occupied and unknown 2616 3197 5813 Total 21049 21689 42738

Persons in private households by socio-economic group of reference person[5][6]

Socio-economic group of reference person Households Persons A Employers and managers 2704 7949 B Higher professional 842 2256 C Lower professional 1783 4761 D Non-manual 3761 10498 E Manual skilled 1332 4168 F Semi-skilled 1209 3775 G Unskilled 421 1309 H Own account workers 806 2637 I Farmers 24 77 J Agricultural workers 50 173 Z All others gainfully occupied and unknown 1874 5156 Total 14806 42759

Education

Population aged 15 years and over by age education ceased[5][6]
Age Males Females Total Under 15 years 472 497 969 15 576 433 1009 16 1102 910 2012 17 1259 1398 2657 18 1812 1987 3799 19 563 827 1390 20 588 637 1225 21 and over 2843 3124 5967 Not stated 3875 4250 8125 Total 13090 14063 27153

Population aged 15 years and over whose education has not ceased[5][6]
Education Males Females Total Still at school 1595 1536 3131 Other 1271 1308 2579

Population aged 15 years and over by field of study[5][6]

Qualification Males Females Total Education and teacher training 181 730 911 Arts 278 293 571 Humanities 159 313 472 Social sciences, Business and Law 1811 3101 4912 Science, Mathematics and Computing 887 588 1475 Engineering, Manufacturing and Construction 2533 269 2802 Agriculture and Veterinary 112 78 190 Health and Welfare 266 1287 1553 Services 729 1059 1788 Other subjects 11 19 30 Not Stated (including unknown) 6123 6326 12449 Total 13090 14063 27153

Population aged 15 years and over by sex and highest level of education completed[5][6]

Education Level Males Females Total No Formal Education 95 85 180 Primary Education 912 1059 1971 Lower Secondary 1949 1851 3800 Upper Secondary 3012 3540 6552 Technical or Vocational qualification 1378 1543 2921 Advanced Certificate/Completed Apprenticeship 1275 591 1866 Higher Certificate 702 802 1504 Ordinary Bachelor Degree or National Diploma 1105 1238 2343 Honours Bachelor Degree, Professional qualification or both 1194 1458 2652 Postgraduate Diploma or Degree 790 1191 1981 Doctorate(Ph.D) or higher 65 64 129 Not stated 613 641 1254 Total 13090 14063 27153

Commuting

Population aged 5 years and over by means of travel to work, school or college[5][6]
Means Persons On foot 4532 Bicycle 512 Bus, minibus or coach 4730 Train, DART or LUAS 376 Motorcycle or scooter 181 Car driver 12892 Car passenger 4208 Van 830 Other 391 Not stated 854 Total 29506

Population aged 5 years and over by time leaving home to travel to work, school or college[5][6]
Time Persons Before 06:30 2753 06:30-07:00 2247 07:01-07:30 3006 07:31-08:00 4575 08:01-08:30 6219 08:31-09:00 5636 09:01-09:30 1032 After 09:30 2576 Not stated 1132 Total 29176

Population aged 5 years and over by journey time to work, school or college[5][6]
Time Persons Under 15 mins 7955 1/4 hour - under 1/2 hour 8896 1/2 hour - under 3/4 hour 5554 3/4 hour - under 1 hour 2238 1 hour - under 1 1/2 hours 2313 1 1/2 hours and over 569 Not stated 1651 Total 29176

Disability, carers and general health

Persons with disability by age group[5][6]
Age group Persons 00-14 508 15-24 384 25-44 1191 45-64 1206 65+ 747 Total 4036

Carers by sex and number of unpaid hours per week[5][6]
Number of hours Males Females '1-14 246 388 '15-28 58 126 '29-42 37 54 '43+ 72 166 'Not stated 62 94 'Total 475 828

Population by general health and sex[5][6]
Health Males Females Total Very good 13423 13616 27039 Good 5763 6046 11809 Fair 1054 1261 2315 Bad 147 186 333 Very bad 41 36 77 Not stated 621 544 1165 Total 21049 21689 42738

Occupation

Persons at work or unemployed by occupation and sex[5][6]

Occupation Males Females Total Managers, Directors and Senior Officials 1233 734 1967 Professional Occupations 1358 1768 3126 Associate Professional and Technical Occupations 1767 1204 2971 Administrative and Secretarial Occupations 704 2348 3052 Skilled Trades Occupations 2212 203 2415 Caring, Leisure and Other Service Occupations 348 1392 1740 Sales and Customer Service Occupations 793 1497 2290 Process, Plant and Machine Operatives 1625 287 1912 Elementary Occupations 1585 1084 2669 Not stated 1037 923 1960 Total 12662 11440 24102

Industries

Persons at work by industry and sex[5][6]
Industry Males Females Agriculture, forestry and fishing 86 40 Building and construction 667 62 Manufacturing industries 1067 535 Commerce and trade 2872 3061 Transport and communications 2410 1137 Public administration 719 627 Professional services 1373 3099 Other 1612 1608 Total 10806 10169

PC and Internet Access

Number of households with cars[5][6]
Cars Households No motor car 1791 One motor car 6481 Two motor cars 5581 Three motor cars 777 Four or more motor cars 168

Number of households with a personal computer[5][6]
Households Yes 12652 No 1811 Not stated 335 Total 14798

Number of households with internet access[5][6]
Households Broadband 12023 Other 737 No 1678 Not stated 360 Total 14798

See also

Swords, Dublin

References

1. Appendix 2
2. Boundary layer: settlements
3. Dashed red line
4. Census 2011 Population Classified by Area Table CD114
5. Census 2011 Small Area Population Statistics - Swords Census Town
6. Census 2011 Small Area Population Statistics – Kinsealy-Drinan Census Town
7. Council Housing Applewood