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A PLACE NEAR FOSTERSTOWN

River Valley

A huge estate of the 1970s and 80s, the Ward River valley beside it, and the plans for the park and the roads around it.

Illustrative image, not a verified photograph

The name

EstablishedRivervalley, or River Valley, is first an estate. Its name is also on Rivervalley Park, the community centre and the shopping centre. It is not the same as the Ward River Valley Park, the long regional park beside it.

ProbableThe estate is named for the valley of the River Ward. Fingal’s heritage survey describes the valley as running east to west through Swords, now a green belt of woodland, playing fields and riverside walks south of Brackenstown Road. No source says this is where the name comes from. Fingal: Swords Historic Landscape Characterisation

Still to establishWho chose the name and when, and how the estate’s sections were named. Addresses show Brookdale, Forest Dale, and River Valley Court, Close, Rise, View and Lawns.

The land before

EstablishedThe estate does not follow a single old townland. We tested 47 River Valley and Brookdale addresses against the official boundaries: 36 fall in Hilltown, seven in Forrestfields (spelled Forestfields in the official data), two in Rathingle, and one fell outside any boundary. See the map page.

EstablishedA windmill stood on Brackenstown Road in the townland of Windmill Lands. Rocque’s map of 1760 shows “Swords Windmill” there, only the stump was left by the first Ordnance Survey (1837 to 1843), and the 1906 map does not show it. The townland is called Windmill Lands. Fingal: Historic Landscape Characterisation

EstablishedIn the park’s floodplain, about 250 m west of Swords town centre, six medieval burials were found in 1999 and dated to the 13th to 14th centuries by the objects with them. River erosion exposed another skeleton in 2020. The 2020 report says this is a larger medieval burial ground than was known, that those buried were Christians, and that some may have died in an epidemic in the monastic town of Swords. It recommends a full excavation before more is lost. Archer Heritage Planning, excavation report, October 2020

EstablishedThe heritage survey says housing has spread mainly to the west, north and south of the Ward valley, and that settlement in the Swords study area has increased by 26.6% in the last 75 years, to represent 32.3% of its land cover. The survey dates from 2007.

Still to establishWhich farms were sold for the estate, who owned them, what the fields were called, and when. We have not seen the old maps or valuation records for Hilltown. Tell us if you remember the fields.

Building the estate

ProbableIt was built from 1971 into the 1980s. The Journal’s 2017 guide to Swords puts the start at 1971, a local web page says building ran until the final phase of Brookdale in the 1980s, and two estate-agent listings date houses to about 1980. None gives its own source. The Journal, 20 October 2017

EstablishedA large phase was still being planned in 1983. St Finian’s GAA says it was founded on 22 July 1983 “following the finalisation of development plans for 419 new homes in River Valley”. River Valley Rangers say they were founded in 1981. Both are the clubs’ own accounts.

EstablishedIts size is claimed, not measured, and the claims disagree. The Journal calls it “the second largest estate in Ireland”. Wikipedia calls it “then Ireland’s largest private housing development”, without a source. Neither gives a number of homes.

Still to establishThe developer, the total number of homes, the phases and their planning references, and how it compares with other estates. The planning records for the 1970s are the place to start.

Today

EstablishedOur directory lists 45 businesses with River Valley or Brookdale addresses, mostly in the Forrestfields & River Valley neighbourhood: schools and childcare (9), shops (7), beauty and fitness (6) and food and drink (5), among them an Aldi.

EstablishedThe park beside the estate is the home ground of local clubs. River Valley Rangers describe their pitches as in Ward River Valley and Rivervalley Park, and St Finian’s GAA’s original pitch is the “Rivervalley Grass Pitch”. River Valley Rangers

EstablishedThe Ward River Regional Park Recreational Hub opened in March 2023, with an all-weather pitch, a car park open 8am to 11pm, new grass pitches and LED floodlighting. Fingal had put the proposal on public display in 2018: a full-size synthetic pitch for GAA and soccer, six 18 m floodlights and a car park of 103 spaces. Dublin People, 14 March 2023 · Fingal Part VIII notice, 2018

What is planned

Little is planned inside the estate itself. We found no application for new homes in River Valley. What changes around it is the park and the roads to the east. Last checked 19 October 2026. For all of Fingal’s projects, see the plans page.

  1. Ward River Regional Park

    Fingal County Council

    A masterplan for the 80-hectare park along the Ward River, beside the estate. Work that needs no planning approval is going ahead: conserving protected structures, woodland management, restoring the Cascades, and a woodland management plan with protected river corridors and native meadow. The finished plan is meant to include a sports hub across the valley, linked by a new active travel bridge.

    In designIn October 2025 Fingal said the plan was due to go for statutory planning approval during 2026. We did not find whether it has been lodged.

    Fingal Capital Programme 2026-2028 · Fingal: Ward River Regional Park

  2. Fosterstown Link Road

    Fingal County Council

    A proposed road from Forest Road to the Pinnock Hill roundabout. Fingal’s Fosterstown Masterplan says it “will enable the ease of access through the site, and for the residents at Rivervalley to access the R132”. The masterplan also names Rivervalley among the existing places around the lands.

    PolicyAdopted in the May 2019 masterplan as an early, essential road. We found no construction date.

    Fingal, Fosterstown Masterplan (May 2019)

Fingal’s capital programme also names a new high-quality walking and cycling bridge over the Ward River Valley as part of the wider regional park proposal, with no date. The Pinnock Hill and Boroimhe guides cover the building planned between Rivervalley and the R132.

Sources

Clubs, developers and public bodies are named only as they appear in these public records and reports.

Unofficial local summary, last checked 19 October 2026. All places · History of Fosterstown