Historic town

The National Monuments Service's description

Archbishop Comyn established a borough in Swords in the late 12th century and confirmed the burgesses of Swords in their burgages with an established annual rent of 1s. per burgage (Mc Neill 1950, 32; Bradley and King, 1988, 306-310). An extent of the manor in 1326 noted that there were the 122 burgesses. The settlement was granted a new charter by Elizabeth 1 In 1578 which established it as a parliamentary borough and this was confirmed in 1603 on the accession of James 1.
According to D'Alton (1838, 141) the town was considered one of the walled towns of Dublin in 1578. The long linear boundary delimiting the properties on the E side of Main Street is an obvious line for these defences but the S boundary is unclear. The stream would have provided a defence on the W and the parish church (DU011-034004-) may have been protected by remnants of its ecclesiastical enclosure (DU011-034002-).
The medieval town was linear in form and was laid out along the present Main Street, which is called High Street in in medieval documentation (Mc Neill 1950, 285) focused onto the gates of the Archbishop's castle. There is a reference in a 14th century deed to a lane called Le Camerothe. It ran in an E-W direction and could possibly be the modern Well Road or Seatown Road. A weekly market was confirmed to the archbishops in 1395 and this was located in Main street which expands noticeably towards its N end to accommodate it.
There are many references to burgages and individual properties in Archbishop Alen's register but none can be identifed with present day properties (Mc Neill 1950, 284). The remains of a number of late medieval houses seems to have survived into the 19th century but none is in evidence now. D'Alton (1838, 136) states that the 'Anchor Inn' still attracts the eye of the traveller by its ancient aspect' and he adds that several houses exhibited the ancient escutcheons of inns, and he listed the Harp, the Anchor, the Black Bull, and the Royal Oak (D'Alton 1838, 137-8).

Compiled by: Geraldine Stout

Date of upload: 26 August 2011

References

Dalton, J. 1838 The History of County Dublin. Dublin.

Bradley, J. and King, H.A. 1988 Urban archaeological survey - county Dublin (4 vols.). Unpublished report commissioned by the Office of Public Works, Dublin.

McNeill, C. (ed.) 1950 Calendar of Archbishop Alen's Register c. 1172-1534. Dublin. Royal Society of Antiquaries.