Skip to content

SWORDS

Fingal County Council’s plans for Swords

The Cultural Quarter and Culture House, the Main Street scheme, the R132 works, new homes and the Ward River park: what Fingal is building, what stage each project is at, and what has not been confirmed.

Artist's impression, not a photograph

This page follows Fingal County Council’s own pages and documents, mainly its 2026 to 2028 capital programme, its December 2025 Sustainable Swords community update and its project pages. Last checked 19 October 2026. Dates move, and Fingal’s pages do not always match each other, so where they differ we say so. MetroLink is delivered by Transport Infrastructure Ireland, not Fingal; see the MetroLink page.

The town centre

The Cultural Quarter is under construction around Swords Castle. The Main Street scheme is a separate project and is still being designed.

  1. Swords Cultural Quarter

    Under way

    Fingal County Council

    An artist's impression of the Swords Cultural Quarter: a pale, finned building with a sign reading SCQ beside a small stone building, a paved square and cycle parking
    Artist’s impression of the Swords Cultural Quarter, signed “SCQ”. © Fingal County Council and the project architects. Shown to illustrate the project; the design may change.

    A 3.89-acre area around the junction of North Street, Seatown Road, Bridge Street and Main Street. It takes in Swords Castle, County Hall, the courthouse and the Carnegie Library, which has reopened after refurbishment. It is one of 16 projects in the Sustainable Swords Strategy.

    • The development is the Culture House, the public realm around it and 36 new homes on Seatown Road. Fingal put the overall cost at over €60m in 2024.
    • Duggan Brothers hold the construction contract, signed at County Hall in June 2024.

    Fingal: Swords Cultural Quarter · Fingal, 27 June 2024: Duggans appointed to construct the Cultural Quarter and residential projects

  2. Culture House (Áras Cúltúir)

    Under construction

    Fingal County Council, architects O’Donnell Tuomey

    An artist's impression of the new cultural centre, a timber-clad building signed SCC, beside old castle walls, with people on steps and a cyclist in the foreground
    Artist’s impression of the new cultural centre, signed “SCC”. This and the picture above show different designs, so check Fingal’s pages for the current one. © Fingal County Council and the project architects. Shown to illustrate the project; the design may change.

    A new County Library, a theatre, a gallery and arts spaces in one building beside the castle.

    • Planned spaces: a County Library of 3,000 sq m, a 165-seat theatre, an art gallery and exhibition space, a maker space, studios and rehearsal rooms, an archive and reference library, and a café.
    • Foundation stone laid on 22 October 2024. Fingal then gave an opening in the first half of 2027.
    • Fingal’s December 2025 update says completion is expected in November 2026. The capital programme says substantial completion in the fourth quarter of 2026 and provides €34.36m for it in 2026 to 2028.
    • A €3m grant from the Department of Rural and Community Development supports the library.

    Not yet stated: An exact opening date. Fingal’s targets so far are completion in late 2026 and an opening in 2027.

    Fingal: Swords Cultural Centre · Fingal, 22 October 2024: foundation stone laid · Fingal: Sustainable Swords community update, December 2025 · Fingal Capital Programme 2026-2028

  3. Cultural Quarter public realm

    Under way

    Duggan Brothers with GLAS Civil Engineering

    Upgraded streets, landscaping, lighting and a new events space around the castle, to make a pedestrian-friendly civic space.

    • Phase One, at the top of Main Street by County Hall, was due to start in the last week of May 2026 and take about 12 weeks. Two bus stops outside County Hall were moved temporarily.
    • Phase Two, on North Street, is expected to run from mid-August to December 2026.
    • Fingal expects all street works to finish by the end of the first quarter of 2027 and the whole contract in the second quarter of 2027.
    • The gate at the south end of North Street into Town Park was due to close in January 2026 and stay closed to the end of the year. Access to the castle is maintained.
    • €10m is allocated to the public realm in the capital programme.

    Fingal, 25 May 2026: next phase of public realm works · Fingal: Swords Cultural Quarter public realm works · Fingal: Sustainable Swords community update, December 2025 · Fingal Capital Programme 2026-2028

  4. Swords Castle

    Ongoing

    Fingal County Council

    Phased conservation of the castle continues alongside the Cultural Quarter.

    • In 2026 a mechanical and electrical upgrade is expected to start. It leads into the final phase of the conservation plan, which is meant to bring some accessibility to the Knights and Squires Quarters. €434k is allowed for it.
    • The project so far has been part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, through the Urban Centre Development Scheme.
    • Enabling works around the castle perimeter found buried features that had not been recorded before. Fingal says they will be preserved and, where possible, built into the Cultural Quarter design.

    Not yet stated: Current opening hours. Sources disagree, so check Fingal’s Swords Castle page before you go.

    Fingal Capital Programme 2026-2028 · Fingal, 22 June 2026: Swords transformation gathers momentum

  5. Swords Main Street Transformation

    In design

    Fingal County Council, with a multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy

    A plan to remodel Main Street from the front of County Hall to the Garda Station, and the laneways off it.

    • Proposed features include seating, play features, pocket parks, biodiverse planting, sustainable drainage, heritage trails, laneway upgrades, loading bays, more accessible parking and better bin collection points.
    • The design team had its commencement meeting in January 2025 and is working towards a planning application.
    • Fingal held a non-statutory consultation in summer 2026. A comprehensive statutory consultation is planned for 2027 as part of the planning process.
    • Fingal’s 2025 budget line for the design work was €650,000.

    Not yet stated: Whether Main Street is pedestrianised, any traffic or bus changes, a budget for building it, and a construction start date.

    Fingal: Swords Main Street Transformation · Fingal Capital Programme 2026-2028

Roads, walking and cycling

The R132 works are separate from MetroLink but have to be finished before it can be built.

  1. R132 Connectivity Project

    Under way

    Fingal County Council; contractor Murphy

    About 3 km of the R132, from north of Pinnock Hill roundabout to north of Estuary roundabout, turned from a road of roundabouts into a street with crossings and bus and cycle lanes.

    • The Estuary, Seatown and Malahide Road roundabouts become signalised junctions with crossings. There are to be bus lanes, cycle lanes and footpaths on each side, and three new signalised crossings, including one beside the Chapel Lane and Ashley Avenue overbridge. The speed limit falls from 80 to 50 km/h.
    • Work was reported as officially starting on 30 March 2026 (Fingal’s September update says it broke ground in April), in four phases, at about €21m funded by the NTA. On 18 September 2026 Fingal said Phase One, from Bostik Junction to Estuary roundabout, was progressing well.
    • Fingal estimates about 25 months of construction and substantial completion in the second quarter of 2028.
    • During works, two lanes are planned at peak times (06:30 to 10:00 and 16:00 to 19:30) and one off-peak.
    • Fingal’s traffic modelling found that a northbound one-way system through the town centre performed best during construction, and that shuttle systems caused excessive delays on Main Street and Bridge Street.

    Not yet stated: The final traffic arrangement for the town centre. We did not find it on the pages we read. The project page also still describes 2025 tendering, so it lags the 2026 works.

    How this fits with MetroLink →

    Fingal: R132 Connectivity Project · Fingal, 18 September 2026: Swords works update · Dublin People, 30 March 2026: work begins on the R132 · Fingal: Sustainable Swords community update, December 2025

  2. Seatown Road to Estuary Road active travel scheme

    Under way

    Fingal County Council

    Protected cycle lanes and safer crossings between Seatown roundabout and Estuary Road.

    • Resurfaced roads, safer crossings, protected cycle lanes on each side, sheltered bus stops separate from the cycle lanes, and a cycle-friendly roundabout at Estuary Road.
    • Works began in February 2026 and were estimated at about 12 months.

    Fingal: Seatown Road to Estuary Road active travel scheme · Fingal: Sustainable Swords community update, December 2025

  3. Swords Western Distributor Road extension

    In design

    Fingal County Council, with consultants Egis

    An existing road within the Oldtown and Mooretown development lands, with cycle tracks both ways, that Fingal proposes to extend east to the R132 and the planned Estuary park and ride.

    • The consultants are at the options-selection stage. Fingal expects the options report by the end of 2026.

    Not yet stated: A route, a consultation date or a construction date.

    Fingal Capital Programme 2026-2028

  4. Also named in Fingal’s capital programme

    Listed

    Fingal County Council

    These appear as lines in the 2026 to 2028 programme. We have not read project pages for them, so no detail is given.

    • R132 junctions; the Swords transport network including cycle facilities; the Swords to Malahide active travel route; an active travel pathfinder from Swords to the airport; Brackenstown Bridge; traffic upgrade works at Seatown.
    • Safe Routes to School at Holy Family Junior National School, St Colmcille’s National School, Broadmeadow CNS and Holywell ETNS in Swords.
    • Holywell Park, Sluagh Hall in Swords, and the Swords and Lissenhall surface water network.

    Fingal Capital Programme 2026-2028

Parks and green space

  1. Ward River Regional Park

    In design

    Fingal County Council

    A masterplan for an 80-hectare (200-acre) regional park along the Ward River valley.

    • Fingal’s October 2025 programme said the plan was planned for statutory planning approval during 2026. We did not find whether it has been lodged.
    • Work that needs no planning approval is going ahead: conserving protected structures, woodland management, reopening historic paths, restoring the Cascades water feature and building a fish by-pass. Restoration of the Brackenstown Walled Gardens, for community use, is under way.
    • The completed plan is meant to include a sports hub across the valley, linked by a new medium-level active travel bridge.

    Not yet stated: Whether the planning application has been lodged or decided.

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

Homes

Fingal is both a housing provider and the planning authority. Planning decisions on its own schemes go to An Coimisiún Pleanála.

  1. Mooretown, Baile na Móna

    Application

    Fingal County Council

    A proposed second phase of 360 homes and a crèche on about 14.75 hectares off Rathbeale Road.

    • The mix is 305 houses, 20 own-door duplexes and 35 apartments in one four to five storey block, plus a crèche of about 670 sq m. About 4.2 hectares of public open space is included.
    • Access is by a link road from Phase One to Rathbeale Road, and west to the Swords Western Distributor Road. The plan includes 580 car parking spaces.
    • Fingal put the documents on public display from 3 June to 14 July 2026 and is seeking approval from An Coimisiún Pleanála. Phase One, of social and affordable homes, is in the capital programme.
    • Uisce Éireann was installing a new foul sewer along the R125 from 6 January to the end of February 2026 to add capacity for more homes.

    Not yet stated: The decision, and the split between social, affordable and cost rental homes.

    Fingal, 3 June 2026: proposed 360 homes at Mooretown · Fingal Capital Programme 2026-2028 · Fingal: Sustainable Swords community update, December 2025

  2. Other council housing in Swords

    Listed

    Fingal County Council

    Thirty-six homes on Seatown Road are part of the Cultural Quarter contract, funded through Housing for All.

    • North Street, Woodside, Knocksedan, Bowden Court in Outlands and Millers Glen also appear in the capital programme. We have not read project pages for them.

    Fingal, 27 June 2024: Duggans appointed to construct the Cultural Quarter and residential projects · Fingal Capital Programme 2026-2028

  3. Fosterstown, Barrysparks and Crowscastle, Estuary West

    Policy

    Fingal County Council

    Fingal adopted masterplans for these three areas in 2019. The Fosterstown masterplan sets out over 1,200 homes near the planned MetroLink station.

    The Fosterstown lands and what has been proposed →

    Fingal: Fosterstown Masterplan, May 2019

The strategy behind it

  1. Sustainable Swords Strategy

    Policy

    Fingal County Council

    Fingal’s plan to make Swords a better place to live, work and visit, published as a draft for consultation in September 2022. The Cultural Quarter, Main Street, the R132 works and the Ward River park all come from it.

    • The 2022 draft also proposed laneway and shopfront upgrades, radial cycle routes, a greenway network, Quietways and Home Zones, a community forest, and feasibility studies for a heritage trail and visitor experience at St Columba’s Church and the Round Tower.
    • Fingal planned to pilot a Sustainable Swords Community Forum in 2026: 10 to 12 community representatives, meeting four or five times in the year.

    Fingal, 13 September 2022: consultation on the draft plan for Swords · Fingal: Sustainable Swords community update, December 2025

Key dates ahead

Dates as Fingal has published them, in order. They are targets, not promises.

  1. Mid-August to December 2026North Street public realm works (Phase Two) under way.
  2. November 2026Culture House completion expected (Fingal, December 2025).
  3. End of 2026Options report for the Swords Western Distributor Road extension expected.
  4. During 2026Ward River Regional Park masterplan planned to go for statutory approval.
  5. End of Q1 2027All Cultural Quarter street works expected to finish.
  6. First half of 2027Culture House opening (Fingal, October 2024).
  7. 2027Statutory consultation on the Main Street Transformation.
  8. Q2 2027Cultural Quarter public realm contract expected to finish.
  9. Q2 2028R132 Connectivity Project estimated substantial completion.

Sources

Unofficial local summary. For the latest, go to fingal.ie. Do you know of a project we have missed, or something that has changed? Tell us.