Swords was a borough constituency represented in the Irish House of Commons until its abolition in 1801. Elections for the borough were considered to "afford scenes of the greatest corruption". This was because the borough was not in the control of a single patron. The borough was disfranchised by the Acts of Union 1800, with effect from 1 January 1801. Where in other disfranchised boroughs the former patron was given compensation of ã15,000, in the case of Swords, it was vested "for such uses or purposes as shall appear to them to tend most to the advantage and improvement of the condition of the inhabitants of the said borough".