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The place I have chosen to investigate is Swords Castle and Town Park, located in Swords, Co. Dublin. I have chosen to study this place as it is located in my hometown. I spent a lot of here while I was in secondary school as my school was situated close by. I still like to go on walks through the park and to spend time there during the Summer.

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Swords Town Park is located in the ancient town of Swords. Swords was founded in 560AD around a well associated with St. Colmcille. Swords Castle is the biggest tourist attraction in the town of Swords. The castle is situated in the park, with the River Ward flowing alongside it. There is a playground, tennis courts, picnic areas, tree-lined walkways, and sports pitches in the park around the castle.

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As mentioned above, the Ward River runs through Swords Town Park. As part of a geographical investigation, I wanted to explore this river. I hoped to find out where this river starts and ends, features of the river and if it flows through any other towns. I used maps, photographs and read various articles to explore the river. I visited the river several times and took photographs too. I also investigated the geographical location of the park, as well as other geographical features of the area such as tourism and leisure. I used maps, photographs, articles and visited the park to carry this out.

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Swords Castle and Town Park is located on the Main Street in Swords in North County Dublin. It is located two miles from Dublin airport. The castle in the park is at the end of a high ridge and overlooks the River Ward and the road from the sea at the Malahide estuary inland to Ashbourne. The coordinates of the park are 53°27'36.93" N -6°13'11.95" W.

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2-D aerial view of Swords Castle and Town Park (Google Earth, 2021)

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3-D aerial view of Swords Castle and Town Park (Google Earth, 2021)

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Map of Swords, showing the Ward River (Google Maps, 2021)

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The Ward River runs through Swords Town Park. The river gets its name from the French 'Le Warde' (Doyle, 2018). The river has the nickname of 'The Jacko', which dates back to the 1960s. Many locals call the river by this nickname, rather than its correct title of the Ward River. It is about 18 kilometres long and flows in an eastern direction into the Broadmeadow River, which is also in Swords (Doyle, 2013). The Ward River is regarded as a stream of the Broadmeadow River. The stream is limestone-based and flows mainly through pastureland. It is a common fishing area as it is abundant with wild brown trout (Anglers Ireland, 2021).

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Mouth of the river at the Broadmeadow Estuary (Google Maps, 2021)

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The source of a river is where it begins. This is also known as the headwaters. The source of the Ward River is in Dunsaughlin, Co. Meath. I identified the source of the river using a 2-D map. I also discovered that the mouth of the river is at the Estuary in Swords. The mouth of a river is where it joins a larger body of water such as the sea.

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Meanders are large bends in a river caused by erosion. I searched for meanders in the river throughout the park. I could not identify any, however. The river runs through Swords Town Park relatively straight. There are no sharp bends. However, upon looking at a map of Swords I discovered that there are meanders in the river in another part of Swords, Ward River Valley Park. These meanders are clearly visible on the map below.

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Meanders in the River at Ward River Valley Park (Google Maps, 2021)

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'A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF SWORDS CASTLE' - HERITAGE WEEK 15TH - 23RD AUGUST 2020' (Eric Campbell, 2020).

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As mentioned above, Swords Castle and Town Park is the biggest tourist attraction in the town of Swords and it is open for visitors. There are tennis courts located on the grounds, as well as a playground. Many parts of the castle are accessible to the public and tour guides at the Swords Castle Tourism Office are available to give tours to the public, free of charge.

Restoration works for the castle began in 1990. Parts of the Chapel, the Constable's Tower and the curtain walls were reconstructed. This was part of a FAS scheme that provided masonry and carpentry training for locals. In 2014, Fingal County Council established a Swords Castle Conservation Plan. This plan had a number of aims including encouraging public understanding and enjoyment of the monument and promoting physical and intellectual access and meeting the needs of a variety of users (Fingal County Council, 2014).  It was hoped that the castle would become a focal point for the community and that the restoration would improve tourism.

This was successful as the castle is a very popular spot with both tourists and locals. Various events are held at the castle grounds throughout the year. For example, Christmas markets, a Halloween pumpkin patch, a Viking Commemoration and Swords Summer Festival.

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'A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF SWORDS CASTLE' - HERITAGE WEEK 15TH - 23RD AUGUST 2020

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Halloween at Swords Castle (Dublin Live, 2020)

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Swords Castle Christmas Markets (taken December 2021)

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The areas I explored throughout my investigation link to various parts of the S.E.S.E. curriculum. For example, ‘Maps, globes and graphical skills’ and. ‘Human environments’.
The geographical exploration of the park and river could be incorporated into lessons in several ways. For example, students could use maps to identify geographical feature of the park or river, or take a walk throughout the park to observe various other geographical features. Students could make predictions beforehand and then analyse their findings.

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As part a historical investigation, I chose to explore Swords Castle. Prior to beginning my investigation, I had some knowledge of the castle. However, I wanted to learn about the castle's history further. I wanted to investigate when and why the castle was built, as well as its uses over time and about its structure. I read articles, book excerpts, looked at images, took a tour of the castle, spoke with a tour guide, spent time exploring the interior and exterior of the castle, and took my own photographs of various parts of the castle and grounds as part of my inquiry.

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I completed a tour of Swords Castle, with a tour guide named Jennifer McEvoy on the 22nd October, 2021. Jennifer works at Swords Tourist Information Office. She showed me around the castle, explaining the history of each part as we walked throughout the castle and grounds. She also gave me the opportunity to ask questions. Jennifer gave me permission to record the tour/interview so that I could use it to aid in completing my assignment. I recorded the interview, transcribed it and took photographs throughout the tour to use in my work.
I was also given a Swords Castle booklet with further information about the history of the castle. I will reference the interview and tour with Jennifer, as well as the information booklet throughout.

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The castle is enclosed by a partially crenelated curtain wall and is entered by a gatehouse. Notable features of the castle include the remains of the Chapel, the Archbishop's Apartments and the Constable's Tower (Baker et al., 2015). The castle is designated as a National Monument and is one of the best surviving examples of its type in Ireland. It incorporates many phases of reuse and redesign, which reflects its long history (Swords Castle, 2017).

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Outside of Swords Castle from the park (taken November 2021)

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Swords Castle contains over 800 years of history. The castle retains the imprint of the archbishops, the stone masons, carpenters and other craftsmen who have all made a valuable contribution to the presentation of the castle today. As it stands, its complexity, the patterns of interrelationships between the various periods dating from the 13th century, and the survival of many of the remains all indicate that it is of national significance. It is a historic landmark that commands a strong visual and physical presence over the town of Swords (Fingal County Council, 2014).

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In 1181, John Comyn succeeded Laurence O’Toole as Archbishop of Dublin and in 1182, the church of Swords was confirmed to him (Fanning, 1975). Swords Castle was then built in 1200 as a manorial residence of the Anglo-Norman archbishop. It was never a castle in the accepted sense, but an episcopal palace. The castle acted as an administrative centre in the later 12th century (Baker, et al., 2015). Lands were granted, weights and measures were inspected, rent was set and collected, and petitions from tenants and traders were heard (Swords Castle, 2017). John Comyn also collected taxes and it was estimated that he collected around 6 million euros a year, in the Swords area alone. The archbishop had a castle in Rathcoole as well, where he also collected taxes (McEvoy, 2021).

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Eventually, the Archbishop left Swords to go to Tallaght in 1324 (McEvoy, 2021). Later, between 1830 and 1870, the castle was bought by the Cobbe family of Newbridge House, Donabate. They used the lands for farming and fruit growing and planted an orchard within the grounds of the castle. Dublin County Council obtained the land from the Cobbes in 1985. Then, Dublin City Council separated into three new local authorities and Fingal County Council assumed ownership of the castle and the grounds. Nowadays, the castle is used for various events for the local community (Fingal County Council, 2014).

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The Chapel from inside the grounds (taken October 2021)

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The Chapel is clearly visible from Swords Mainstreet. It is an unusually large chapel, even for an archbishop’s residence (Swords Castle, 2017). Since 1995, the chapel has undergone extensive reconstruction. Everything that can be seen in the Chapel today is a reproduction of the original structure. For example, the walls of the Chapel have been reconstructed. Some of the original walls from the 12th century have survived (up to around 1m of the wall). These original walls were constructed from limestone and limestone mortar. This was sourced from a local quarry. There is a clear distinction between the remaining original wall and the newer wall as the discolouration of the original wall is clearly visible (McEvoy, 2021).

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The roof of the Chapel is a gable roof, made from oak. The oak was sourced from Newbridge. There are no nails in the roof as it was made with drawls and pegs. There are also chandeliers in the Chapel. These chandeliers have ropes attached to them, as they would have been lowered down and candles would be lit and put into them in times when there was no electricity. They were made by a man named Mark Keeling, who owns ‘Keelings’ fruit and vegetable company. Mark has won many awards for his craftsmanship in Europe (McEvoy, 2021).

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There are several stained-glass windows in the chapel. The design of the window in the centre of the chapel was made taking inspiration from a cathedral in France. It is called the ‘Jesé Window’. This window reflects the life of Jesus Christ. Jesus and various other prophets can be seen in the design. Directly above this image are signs of the zodiac as religion and astrology were closely linked in the 11th and 12th century periods. The other 4 windows represent the four Evangelists. Each window has a Latin inscription, which translates to the openings of each of their Gospels in the Holy Bible (McEvoy, 2021).

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The tour guide, Jennifer, speaks about the stained glass windows in the chapel that depicts the Four Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

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Window depicting the Four Evangelists (taken October 2021)

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Window depicting the Four Evangelists (taken October 2021)

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Tile pavements from the excavation (Fanning, 1975)

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The tiles in the Chapel are reproductions of the original tiles that were found in an excavational dig in 1975. As mentioned above, John Comyn was Anglo-Norman and the Anglo-Norman influence can be seen in the design of the tiling.

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The tiles in the Chapel today (taken October 2021)

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Tour Guide Jennifer speaking about the Constable’s Tower (McEvoy, 2021)

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The Constable's Tower was built during the 15th century. It is a three-storey structure that enters out onto the curtain walls (Swords Castle, 2017) and there is a spiralling staircase inside. A prison lies under the Constable's Tower, which is not accessible to the public today. Trials were held at the castle and people would be held in the prison with the Constable. They would then be taken to the Gallows to be hung. The Gallows were located at St. Columba's round tower is in Swords, which was built in the 14th century on the site of St. Colmcille (McEvoy, 2021).
The tower was restored between 1996 and 1998. A new roof was added. The roof is made from oak, sourced from Newbridge, like the roof in the Chapel. There are two large chambers in the tower and a medieval toilet. A chute would take waste outside the north wall (Swords Castle, 2017).

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Spiralling staircase in the Constable’s Tower (taken October 2021)

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View of castle grounds from outside the Constable’s Tower (taken October 2021)

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Entrance of Constable’s Tower (taken October 2021)

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A curtain wall links all of the buildings together. It is 300m in length and between 3m and 10m in height. Like the Chapel walls, it is constructed from limestone and limestone mortar, sourced from a local quarry. The wall is punctuated by four mural towers, which can be seen in the video clip above. It is thought that the curtain wall was used to keep live stock in (Swords Castle, 2017).

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I drew on several strands of the History curriculum throughout my historical investigation of Swords Castle. For example, ‘Local studies’ and ‘Life, society, work and culture in the past’. The exploration of the castle incorporated into the classroom by reading about it, looking at photographs of various artefacts from the site or visiting the grounds.

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As part of a scientific investigation, I hoped to explore the flora and fauna of Swords Town Park. I wanted identify the plants and animals that are found on the grounds and find out some information about them. I visited the grounds several times, took photographs and read various articles and information on different websites about plants and animals to do this.

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After visiting the ground on a number of occasions, I discovered that there are maple trees, Bramley trees, ivy, and spear thistle on the castle grounds and town park. I used the Plant Net app and spoke to a family friend who has an interest in trees and plants to help me to identify the flora I observed.  I also spoke to the tour guide, Jennifer about various plants.

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Ivy can be seen on various trees in the park. Ivy, also known as Hedera helix, is a common plant found in Ireland. It is a climbing shrub that attaches itself to surfaces using short “roots” that adhere firmly to the surface. This provides support. This method of attachment is very effective and it can be very difficult to remove it from the surface it is attached to. The ivy in the image above has attached itself to the trunk of this tree.

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There are a small number of maple trees in Swords Town Park, near the playground. Maple trees are a rare sight in Ireland and are more commonly seen in the UK. They generally flower from May to June, having dark green leaves. The photograph above was taken in late November and therefore the leaves had turned an orange/brown colour.

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Bramley apple trees are large trees that produce large apples, two to three times bigger than other apples. Bramley apples are often used in cooking. The first Bramley tree in existence was found in Nottinghamshire in the UK in 1859 and it is still there today. This specific tree on the castle grounds (in the image above) is over 130 years old. It still produces organic apples to date. Many locals take apples from this tree to use to bake apple pies (McEvoy, 2021).

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Spear thistle is a kind of weed that I saw around the tennis courts on the castle grounds. Upon researching it, I found out that spear thistle is usually occurs on roadsides and in woodland clearings. It flowers in June and July and is pollinated by bees and other insects. The disturbance of soil advance the germination of the spear thistle. However, it usually does not survive for longer than a year (Garden Organic, 2021).

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Poplar trees have grey-brown bark and their leaves are shiny and green. They can live for over 200 years. I saw three poplar trees during my visits to the park. I researched the tree by speaking to a family friend who has an interest in trees and discovered that they are deciduous, meaning they shed their leaves every year. This was surprising to me as the poplar trees had not yet lost their leaves in early December. I then found out that the trees lose their leaves in Summer, rather than Winter, unlike many of the other trees in the park. This is because they often grow more leaves in Spring than they can support (Larkin, 2021).

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(taken mid-October 2021 and beginning of December 2021)

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As I visited the grounds several times, at different times of the year (Autumn and Winter), I noticed some changes in the environment. For example, I visited the same tree 6 weeks apart. In the first photograph, the tree is filled with yellow/orange leaves. It has started to lose its leaves and they cover the ground underneath. In the photograph on the right, the tree is completely bare and there are no leaves on or around it.

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I carried out my investigation during Autumn and Winter. I understand that this was not an ideal time to do this, however. This is because many plants that may grow in Summer, may not bloom in Autumn and Winter. Therefore, I searched online to find images of the park during Summer, so that I can compare them to the photographs I had collected myself.  I looked at several images of the park during various times of the year. It is clear from the photographs that there are distinctions between the plants that grow in the park at various points in the year.

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This photograph was taken in the month of July. As seen in this image, the trees in the park during Summertime are full and the leaves are green. There are little leaves on the ground. However, during my visits to the park, the leaves on the trees were orange, yellow or brown in colour. The trees were also a lot less full, or bare, and the ground was filled with leaves.

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I took several visits to the park to observe the fauna on the grounds. Whilst at the park, I discovered that there are several types of animals in Swords Town Park. I observed various species of birds such as crows, magpies, robins, and blackbirds. Each time I visited the park, I also saw many dogs as it is a popular dog-walking spot. I also saw several cats. I took photographs and researched each animal I saw at the park. I also carried out online research to investigate whether there are any other creatures in the park that I did not see. I discovered that there are also brown trout, mallard and orange tip butterflies at Swords Town Park.

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There are several kinds of crows. I saw several rook crows in Swords Town Park. These kinds of crows are glossy and black and are very common all over Ireland (Hatch, 2020). In certain lights these birds can show a reddish or purple sheen to its plumage. They are distinguishable from other species of crows because of their 'trousers' and the dropping feathers on its belly (Bird Watch Ireland, 2021).

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I saw this robin at Swords Town Park in early December 2021. After carrying out some research, I discovered that robins are one of the most common birds in Ireland. Features that robins often have are a red-orange breast, grey-white belly, warm brown unmarked upper parts and grey on the side of the neck. They stand upright and have a round appearance (Ireland's Top 20 Garden Birds, 2021). They eat a variety of food, including worms, seeds, nuts, suet, invertebrates, and fruit (British Trust for Ornithology, 2021).  Robins can become extremely territorial during the breeding season. They can become very violent and chase off and have disputets with other birds (Ireland's Top 20 Garden Birds, 2021). They live for around 13 months on average (British Trust for Ornithology, 2021).

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I saw multiple magpies on my visits to the park. Upon research, I discovered that magpies are a species of crow. Magpies are very easily distinguished from other birds because of their distinct black and white markings and long tail. Magpies feed on a wide variety of food. They eat invertebrates, fruits, seeds, small vertebrates, carrion, refuse, and scrapes. They also sometimes take the eggs and young of small birds (Bird Watch Ireland, 2021).

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I saw one blackbird during my visits to the park. The blackbird is another common bird in Ireland, in both rural and city settings. It is a part of the thrush family. Blackbirds are very distinct looking birds as they have an all-black plumage with a yellow beak. A blackbird's diet includes insects, especially earthworms, berries and other fruit, including apples (Bird Watch Ireland, 2021).

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The scientific exploration I carried out could also be carried out as part of S.E.S.E. lessons. Students could observe the flora and fauna in the local environment and research them. I drew on several S.E.S.E. strands throughout my exploration of Swords Castle and Town Park such as ‘Working scientifically’ and ‘Living things’.

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Aran Sweaters Direct. (2021, July 25). Swords Castle and Park. Retrieved November 29, 2021, from https://www.aransweatersdirect.com/blogs/blog/swords-castle-and-park
Baker, C., Black, B., Monaghan, G., Ni Fhearghail Smith, C., & Mac Domhnaill, S. (2015). “SWORDS CASTLE: DIGGING HISTORY.” Archaeology Ireland, 29(4), 41–44.
Bird Watch Ireland. (2021). Rook . Retrieved November 29, 2021, from https://birdwatchireland.ie/birds/rook/
Bird Watch Ireland. (2021). Magpie. Retrieved November 29, 2021, from https://birdwatchireland.ie/birds/magpie/
British Trust for Ornithology. (2021). European robin guide: diet, habitat and species facts. Retrieved November 28, 2021, from https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/birds/facts-about-robins/
Campbell, E. (2021, August 4). “A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF SWORDS CASTLE” -HERITAGE WEEK 15TH - 23RD AUGUST 2020 [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/fQCtN43zwJk
Doyle, J. W. (2013) [2008]. Ten Dozen Waters: The Rivers and Streams of County Dublin. Dublin, Ireland: Rath Eanna Research.
Doyle, J. W. (1 March 2018). The Rivers and Streams of the Dublin Region (1st ed.). Dublin, Ireland: Rath Eanna Research. pp. 11–13
Fanning, T. (1975). An Irish Medieval Tile Pavement: Recent Excavations at Swords Castle, County Dublin. The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, 105, 47–82.
Fingal County Council (2014) Swords Castle Conservation Plan (www.fingal.ie)
Garden Organic (2021) Spear Thistle. https://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/weeds/spear-thistle
Hatch, N. (2020) Ireland’s Crows. Bird Watch Ireland.
Ireland’s Top 20 Garden Birds. (2021). Irish Garden Birds. Retrieved November 28, 2021, from https://www.irishgardenbirds.ie/irelands-top-20-birds/
Larkin, G., 30th November 2021, personal communication.
McEvoy, J. (2021, October). Personal tour. Swords Castle Tourism Office Tour. Dublin; Swords.
SWORDS CASTLE. (2017). Archaeology Ireland.