Hi FingalEMers — 🙋‍♂️🙋‍♀️ That was a better week, wasn’t it? According to Met Éireann, the tables have flipped, and we are looking at a very dry week indeed. 🙏 Please let them be right!

Continuing with the positive notefrom last week’s poll: the answer to “If this newsletter was published twice weekly would you read both editions?” from those of you who responded (thanks you) was a resounding 80% yes. That’s great news! Our objective here is not to flood you with newsletters but to reduce the size of individual newsletter publications so they are (a) shorter - as we know how important your time is and (b) that they are more timely. The last point is particularly important as as we have found that some organisations, posting on Facebook for the weekend ahead, tend to post after Monday so we miss them in the current frequency of the newsletter. Sending a second, later in the week edition, means we can capture more events for you guys. Btw, we are working on a better system for capturing events. More about that later.😉

This week’s poll is about Food:

Would you be interested in food guides from the locality?

Restaurant listings, new places opening & best food reviews etc.

Login or Subscribe to participate

If you know of an upcoming event or a local story worth sharing, drop us a line & we’ll help spread the word with our fast-growing community: [email protected]

The sponsor of this week’s edition is:

Where young Irish speakers in Swords come together.

In honour of Seachtain na Gaeilge kicking off this week, we have partnered with Gaeltacht Shoird! Run by local cousins Dónall and Síofra, Gaeltacht Shoird was inspired after the pair realised that although there are a few ciorcail chomhrá in the area there was no space in Swords for young people to speak Irish together, and that there is a huge demand for it in the area with two Gaelscoil in the Swords area. Most of their friends speak Irish (which is just incredible to hear!), and they wanted to create a space for more young people to get together and practice.

Gaeltacht Shoird runs from the Cock Tavern in Swords Main Street on the last Wednesday of every month. It’s a great opportunity to connect with other young Irish speakers in the community and practice your own Irish, no matter your fluency! They have had huge interest since launching which is brilliant to see! This month, the Gaeltacht will be running on a Thursday instead, in celebration of their 1st birthday! You can catch them in the Cock Tavern on Thursday, the 20th of March.

Lá breithe shona duit, Gaeltacht Shoird!
Make sure to give them a follow and show some support!

And don’t forget to tell the guys, you’re a FingalEMer!

News

Tracking all the developing stories that affect us.

☘️☘️ St Patrick’s Day 2026: Bigger Celebrations Across Fingal

  • Fingal County Council is going bigger this year for St Patrick’s Day, with a broader programme of community celebrations planned across the county on 17th March. The focus is firmly on local involvement — bringing together residents, community groups, clubs and performers for a proper Fingal-wide day out.

  • For us in Fingal East, the headline is that there are multiple parades happening across Fingal, with Swords getting underway from late morning and other nearby towns also hosting their own celebrations. It means you don’t have to travel far to catch the atmosphere — there’ll be plenty of chances to line the streets, support local groups taking part, and make a day of it with family and friends.

  • Beyond the parades, there may also be additional community and cultural events happening around the county as part of the wider celebrations. As more information is published, we’ll pull it together and share the practical details in next week’s edition so you can quickly see what’s on near you and plan your day.

☘️☘️ Seachtain na Gaeilge 2026 Brings Irish Language and Culture to Life Across Fingal

  • Seachtain na Gaeilge (1–17 March 2026) is the annual celebration of the Irish language and the culture around it — music, storytelling, place-names, community and everyday conversation. The whole spirit of it is participation over perfection: use whatever Irish you have, whether you’re fluent, learning, or just dusting off the cúpla focal. It’s about making Irish feel normal and social — something you can join in with in a library, at a family event, or out for a walk — not something you have to “be good at” before you show up.

  • For Fingal East, what we love about it is how accessible it is: it shows up in the places people already go — our local libraries and community venues — and it’s built to be welcoming for families, learners, and anyone who’s curious. You’ll see the same message running through everything: come along, take part, and don’t worry if your Irish is rusty. This is Irish as living culture — a shared thing we can all take ownership of, in small ways, right here at home.

  • Over the next couple of weeks, there’ll be a steady stream of Seachtain na Gaeilge happenings across Fingal East — from relaxed Irish-language gatherings to family-friendly library sessions and bigger community nights. We’ll include every one of these in our weekly event calendar, so you don’t need to go hunting around: just check the calendar for ☘️ each week and you’ll see what’s coming up and where.

  • Also, don’t forget to check out this week’s sponsor 👆 Gaeltacht Shoird and give them your support.

⚖️👩‍⚖️ Swords Hollytree House Apartments: Fire Safety Appeal Resolved, One Key Hurdle Cleared

  • There have been a lot of rumours swirling around about why the MKN built Hollytree House apartments at Fosterstown Place [at the junction of the Boroimhe link road and the R132 old Dublin Road - opposite Airside] in Swords look “done” but still seem quiet. So, we decided to do a deep dive into the situation and here are our findings.

  • The latest official update we can see is a decision from An Bord Pleanála that focused on one specific safety condition, rather than the overall project. In plain terms, the dispute was about whether the basement car park needed to have sprinklers installed throughout. Fingal County Council wanted sprinklers as an added layer of protection, while the applicant argued the design already met the standard fire safety requirements through other measures.

  • An Bord Pleanála ultimately sided with the applicant on that point and directed that the sprinkler condition be removed, while leaving the rest of the fire safety approval in place. That means this particular hurdle looks to be cleared — and if the apartments still aren’t occupied, it’s likely down to the remaining “finish and handover” steps that happen after big compliance issues like this are settled (final commissioning, snagging, paperwork, and getting everything ready to open the doors).

🤣🤣 Swords Comedy Festival 2026: Five Nights of Laughs Across Town

  • Swords is getting its very first dedicated comedy festival this spring. Swords Comedy Festival 2026 runs from 29 April to 3 May, and it’s shaping up as a proper town-wide celebration — bringing live stand-up to multiple venues and putting Swords firmly on the comedy map.

  • The line-up mixes big names with newer talent, with headliners including Dylan Moran, Andrew Maxwell (local Swords lad), Al Porter, Barbara Scully, and Owen Colgan. It’s not just one style either — expect a blend of stand-up, improv, family-friendly shows, and even live music, with Kíla also featuring as part of the programme.

  • Events will be spread across four familiar local spots — Peacock’s Bar & Lounge, The Cock Tavern, The Pound & The Attic, and Roganstown Hotel — each offering a different atmosphere for a night out. If you’re looking for something fun to do locally over that long weekend, this is one worth circling, and we’ll be keeping an eye on the schedule as the dates get closer.

Civil

Planning decisions, road closures & community notices.

Planning applications & decisions

🏗️ Bovale Development seeking to secure planning permission for site just off Swords/Malahide roundabout - LRD0055/S3E

  • A large-scale residential development is proposed comprising 530 apartments and a creche, with a total gross floor area of 49,210 sq.m (excluding basement car parking), along with private balconies, communal amenity areas and public open spaces. The scheme includes 163 car parking spaces (surface and basement). It will be accessed from the south via a connection to the existing roundabout on the Holywell Distributor Road, and from the north via a new fully signalised junction on the R132, [between the Pavilions roundabout and the Pinnock Hill roundabout on the Drynam side of the carriageway - according to maps] including associated road works, turning lanes, and a separate pedestrian and cycle crossing.

Road closures & changes planned

🚧 Main Road Closures & Works

  • Swords

    • Seatown Road: closed between St. Columcille’s Drive/Seatown Road and North Street/Seatown Road (long-running closure, still in effect this week).

    • R132 Connectivity Project: temporary 50km/h roadworks speed limits in place on sections of the R132 in/around Swords, including approaches near Seatown Roundabout and Estuary Roundabout.

    • M1 J2 (Airport Roundabout): northbound Lane 2 closure overnight Tue 3 Mar (22:00) → Wed 4 Mar (06:00).

  • Malahide

    • R132 Connectivity Project: temporary 50km/h roadworks speed limits around Malahide Roundabout approaches (including R106/Drynam Road approaches).

  • Balbriggan

    • Seapoint Lane + Harbour Road: temporary closure Wed 4 Mar, 07:30–18:00.

  • Ballyboughal

    • L-1015 Borranstown Road: temporary closure Tue 3 Mar → Tue 24 Mar (24 hours/day listed) for works (noted working hours typically 08:00–18:00 on weekdays, with no weekend/Bank Holiday works).

Events Calendar

Things to do in the week ahead.

Monday 2nd March

Tuesday 3rd March

Wednesday 4th March

  • Balbriggan | The Lark | The Unsinkable Entrepreneur: Charity Event in Aid of Atlantic Youth Trust | Following international acclaim and an award-winning North American premiere for Best International Documentary at the 2025 Newport Beach Film Festival, The Unsinkable Entrepreneur makes its long-awaited Irish debut at The Lark Concert Hall | 18:30-20:30

  • Skerries | Skerries Library | Mythology Writing Workshop | 15:30-17:00

  • Malahide | Malahide Library | Irish Merchant Ships and Shipowners, 1815 - 2015 | Author Terry Conlon joins us for a fascinating talk on Irish ships and shipowners, tracing the shift from sail to steam and motor ships. He’ll also look at how Irish Independence and World War Two shaped the industry, and the rise and decline of Ireland’s merchant fleet. Booking for this event is essential so to secure your place, please email [email protected] or call 01 870 4430. | 18:30-20:00

Thursday 5th March

Friday 6th March

  • Balbriggan | Balbriggan Library | Tai Chi | 11:00-12:00

  • ☘️ Malahide | Malahide Library | Óga Yóga (yoga through Irish for children) | 15:30-16:30

  • Balbriggan | Venue: Her Upstairs | Fingal Rowing Club Pub Quiz | Join Fingal Rowing Club for a fun night in Her Upstairs out at our Pub Quiz Fundraiser in support of our purchase of a new East Coast Skiff. | 19:00-23:30

  • Donabate | Triangle Coffee Unit 2, Keelings court | She Speaks - Spoken Word Evening | To celebrate Internal Women's Day 2026 join us for an evening of spoken word | 18:30-20:00

  • Balbriggan | The Lark | Fingal International Festival of Voices presents Friendship Concert 2 | Fingal Festival of Voices presents a one-act concert featuring three competing choirs—Chester River Chorale & Chester Chamber Singers (USA), the Gospodnetič singers (Croatia), and the European School Brussels 1 Secondary Choir—with over 150 singers on stage. | 19:30-21:30

Saturday 7th March

Sunday 8th March

📢Finally, stuff from Fingal East we just like - Feast your “Gollockers” on this, the lost words of Fingal.

Every now and then we stumble on something that reminds us Fingal has its own way of saying things. This week’s find is a gem from Malahide Library: a 1947 “North County Dublin glossary” published in Béaloideas (the Folklore of Ireland Society’s journal), with 348 local words and expressions collected around Fingal. You can create a free account at JSTOR.org (takes 2 mins) to see the entire list of words here.

Some of these are Irish-influenced, some are older English survivals, and some seem to be purely local. A few favourites (tell us if you’ve heard any of them at home!):

  • gollockers — eyes

  • dibby-dab — an expert (“you’re no dibby-dab at it…”)

  • too-roo — a noisy squabble / hullabaloo

  • go-boy — a sly fellow who does harm in secret

  • randyvoo — a house where neighbours gather for a chat (or mischief!)

  • mullucking — heavy work, especially in mud

  • baw-ways / skeow-ways — crooked / awkward / diagonal

  • fan — “van” (a local sound change noted in the glossary)

And here’s our challenge for the week: drop us a reply with any “Fingal words” you still hear in your house (or one your granny used), and we’ll build a little “FingalEMers dictionary” over the next few editions. We will start with 'crabby’, which I’m sure you’ve all heard, especially if you have teenagers. 😖

Have a great week!

Image Credits

Photo: “Sunset in Skerries – Ireland” by Giuseppe Milo, via Flickr (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0)

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