CONTRACTORS have moved onto the Swords Castle site to commence the next phase of Fingal County Council’s development of the Swords Cultural Quarter.
The council have appointed L&M Keating Ltd as main contractors to carry out improvement works at the castle. These works, which are scheduled to last six months, will concentrate on consolidating parts of the castle which are in poor structural repair.
The current programme of works involves:
• Masonry consolidation works on Gatehouse and Knights Chamber at end of Main Street,
• Demolition of derelict buildings on North Street which block access to castle wall,
• Removal of cabins and reconfiguration of temporary events information cabin inside Castle walls,
• Alterations to paths and landscaping inside castle,
• Masonry consolidation works on East Wall range of Castle, and
• New external lighting and site services to facilitate better all-year access within the castle.
The demolition of the North Street buildings will facilitate necessary masonry consolidation works to the East range wall and these works will involve local traffic management on North Street including temporary closure of the footpath.
The castle will remain open as a heritage attraction during the works which will provide better access and an improved visitor experience upon completion.
Swords Castle is a national monument and the work is subject to ministerial consent and oversight from the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
The work is being partially funded under a grant issued under the European Regional Development Fund for Swords Cultural Quarter and this phase of the project will cost just under €500,000.
The Swords Cultural Quarter will be a new major central public and civic space outside Swords Castle featuring a new Library and Civic Centre building to sit alongside County Hall as well as new landscape interventions in the park and the town. Swords Castle was originally built as the residence of the first Anglo-Norman Archbishop of Dublin around 1200 AD. The castle, situated in the centre of the town, is the only fortified residence of the Archbishop to survive in a reasonable state today.
The buildings that make up the castle form a rough pentagon enclosing an area of approximately 0.5 hectares with a perimeter wall of 305 metres. The castle was built over a period of 400 years starting before 1200 AD.
The castle is open all-year round and tours, subject to demand, are provided by Fingal Tourism, who can be contacted at info@fingaltourism.ie
Further information on the castle and the Swords Cultural Quarter project are available at www.fingal.ie.
