In medieval times, the manor of Swords was English Crown property, and by tradition was granted to each Archbishop of Dublin for his lifetime.

In 2001, upon the completion of the County Hall, senior executive offices moved there from Parnell Square in Dublin city centre.

In June 2006, the RNLI Ireland officially opened a new all-Ireland headquarters at Airside Business Park, within greater Swords.

[citation needed] The National Museum of Ireland operates its Collections Resource Centre (CRC) at a former Motorola factory site on the northern edge of the town.

The size of two football fields, the CRC includes storage, archive, library and research facilities serving all branches of the museum.

Households in Swords have the seventh-highest median incomes in the state, among distinct towns (a comparison excluding most other suburbs of the city).

It runs from Dunshaughlin in the west and across the north of Swords, before receiving the Ward and flowing into the wide Broadmeadow Estuary, then into the Irish Sea past Malahide.

Dublin Airport has prevented the town from expanding further south and the large Broadmeadow Estuary and Malahide beyond limit expansion further east.

However, a single parcel of land, 5 acres in extent, is situated in the barony of Coolock[N 5] as an exclave of the civil parish proper.

It continued during the 1990s and 2000s, with many new residents moving to the area due to its proximity to work at Dublin Airport and various industrial estates / business parks.

The M1 Dublin–Belfast motorway passes along the eastern edge of the town and is the main route to/from Dublin City, Drogheda, Dundalk, Newry and Belfast.

Other main roads from Swords include the R106 to Malahide and Portmarnock, R108 to Ballyboughal and Naul, R125 to Ashbourne and the M2 motorway, R126 to Donabate and Portrane and R127 to Lusk and Skerries.

It was never strong in the military sense, but covers a large pentagonal walled area of nearly 1.5 acres (6,100 m2) with a tower on the north and a gateway complex on the south.

[citation needed] Other buildings, recorded in an inquisition in 1326, have now vanished, including the great hall on the east side of the enclosure.

The stepped battlements suggest some form of occupancy during the fifteenth century, but by 1583, when briefly occupied by Dutch Protestants, it was described as "the quite spoiled old castle".

On Chapel Lane, a pre-Catholic Emancipation church was built in 1827 on a site donated by James Taylor of Swords House.

[53] The Lord mayors closed for business in April 2019[54] leaving the premises vacant, with some locals questioning the plan to build 172 apartments on the site of the historic structure.

[55] The modern Fingal County Hall, by Bucholz McEvoy Architects, is located at the northern end of Main Street.

The society's Museum and Heritage Centre at the Carnegie Library on North Street is run by volunteers and is open on weekday afternoons.

[59] A little south of Swords, near Dublin Airport, the National Show Centre is an exhibition and conference venue owned by the Irish Kennel Club.

These include Fingallians (based at Lawless Memorial Park), St. Finian's (Rivervalley), and St Colmcille's (Holybanks, Glen Ellan Road in the Applewood neighbourhood).

[citation needed] Swords Celtic, established in 1962, fields DDSL, NDSL, LSL, and MGL schoolboy and schoolgirl teams.

[citation needed] Swords Manor FC, established in 1995, fields NDSL, DDSL, MGL, and UCFL schoolboy and schoolgirl teams.

The farm section of the two-day show featured a program of livestock and sheep competitions, equestrian contests and other agricultural displays.

It is home to several corporates, including Ryanair, AIB, eShopWorld, Sandisk, Fujitsu, Ricoh and the European headquarters of Kellogg's.

[80] Bristol Myers Squibb employ over 400 people in their Swords Laboratories bulk pharmaceutical plant on Watery Lane.

[81] The Lonza Group employ 45 people in their European manufacturing facility for personal care and industrial biocides, also on Watery Lane.

[85] The Keeling's Farms division annually grow 2,500 tonnes of soft fruits/berries from 5 hectares of glasshouse, tunnel and field crops in Swords.

[90] Its facility in Swords Business Park includes a distribution and ripening centre for Fyffes[91] Cape, Outspan, Green Ace and TOP Fruit products.

[111][needs update] The National Learning Network, Fingal Adult Education Service and Swords Youthreach each have a presence in the area.