These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
Béal Átha na Muice· Irish · main form · validated name
Swinford· English · main form
Place & story
George Wilkinson's workhouse
Swinford Union Workhouse was built in 1840–42, but opened only in 1846. The surviving entrance block carries an 1841 date stone. George Wilkinson, architect to the Irish Poor Law Commissioners, supplied its standardised design. Ochre sandstone walls, pale limestone dressings and a succession of gables give the building its distinctive appearance. Closed as a workhouse in 1926, the front block subsequently found another use, preserving a substantial part of the complex in which local poverty and the Great Famine were confronted.[2]
The railway's domestic architecture
Swinford's railway heritage includes a station master's house opened in 1895 on the Waterford, Limerick and Western Railway route. Its projecting gables and decorative timber bargeboards made it a conspicuous home as well as part of the transport infrastructure. The line was developed following the Light Railways legislation of 1889 and became known as the Burma Road. The house survived the railway's closure in 1975 and was adapted for continued residential use, retaining its characteristic outline and much original fabric.[3]
An estate house becomes a school
The Sisters of Mercy arrived in Swinford in 1855 and began visiting the workhouse. Their later history became closely connected with the Brabazon estate: in 1916 the congregation bought Brabazon Park House and about thirty acres from the Land Commission. Education, health care and textile work all featured in the community's local activities. St Anne's Public Laundry began in 1925. Although the old convent was demolished in 1989, a monument by local artist John O'Malley commemorates the community's presence.[4]
Both counts use the 2016 settlement boundary, allowing like-for-like comparison. CSO supplies the 2022 count on this older boundary for comparison only. The official 2022 Built Up Area has different boundaries.
View population figures
Swinford — Census 2016 settlement footprint — census population
These are the historical areas published in the 2006 census report. Boundaries may differ between censuses and from modern settlements. Legal towns, environs and suburbs are shown separately; none has been combined into a modern settlement total.
View population figures
Swinford, Mayo — Census town, CSO 2006 report — census population
These are the historical areas published in the 1996 census report. Boundaries may differ between censuses and from modern settlements. Legal towns, environs and suburbs are shown separately; none has been combined into a modern settlement total.
View population figures
Swinford, Mayo — Census town, CSO 1996 report — census population
Figures cover the historical town area printed in the 1986 report. Boundaries may have changed between censuses. Legal town, environs and suburb totals remain separate and differ from modern settlement boundaries.
View population figures
Swinford, Mayo — Census town, CSO 1986 report — census population
These figures use different area definitions. Read the boundary note before comparing them.
Swinford, Mayo
Published census settlement populations
1,394people · 2016
Settlement boundaries changed during this period. Differences may reflect boundary changes as well as population change. Where a 2011 legal-town-and-environs count is shown, it has not been recalculated onto the 2016 settlement boundary.
placenames