spoiled old castle". The viceroy, Sir Henry Sydney, had some of the building repaired for the use of the colony of Dutch weavers who he hoped might 'show some example of industry to the lazy natives'. During the 1641 Rebellion the castle was chosen as the rendezvous for the Anglo-Irish Catholic families of The Pale. On 9 December of that year they assembled under arms at the castle in order to join the rebellion, but were attacked by Sir Charles Coote under orders of the Lords Justices. Coote put them to flight, chasing them out of their fortifications and killing two hundred of them. It is possible that some burials found during modern excavations of the castle relate to this incident. Not much is known about the castle after that, but an Ordnance Survey map of 1837 shows the grounds or Bawn of the castle had been converted into a garden. After the Church of Ireland was disestablished in 1870 the castle was sold to the Cobbe family, who leased it to local shopkeeper Robert Savage. Savage turned the grounds of the castle into an orchard and sold the produce in his shop. In the 1930s the site was placed under the guardianship of the Office of Public Works, and in 1985 Dublin County Council (later Fingal County Council) purchased the castle with a view to its restoration. The Parks Department of Fingal County Council carried out a number of studies, including a conservation study of the entire area, and in 1995 a plan was agreed by the council for the long term phased restoration of the castle. In 1996 work commenced on the restoration of Constable's Tower, and this was completed in 1998. The restoration of the rest of the castle is still ongoing and when complete, Swords Castle is intended to become a tourist attraction. The newly renovated castle was used as a film location for the production of TV series The Tudors in spring 2010. In 2019, the chapel opened its doors to weddings. Swords Castle and Courtyard is open to the public from Tuesday to Sunday. References Fanning, Thomas, 'An Irish Medieval Tile Pavement: Recent Excavations at Swords Castle, County Dublin', Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries Vol. 105, (1975), pp47 – 82 Notes External links Swords Castle information History of Swords Castle from Swordsdublin.net Swords Castle Archaeology at Excavations.ie Swords, Dublin National Monuments in