Swift Nesting Boxes at St Ignatius Church

Over the last 15 years the Swift population in Ireland has decreased by 40%. One cause of this decline is the reduction of traditional nesting places in older buildings when insulation is upgraded and the nooks and cranny’s used by the birds are sealed off. New nesting places are therefore urgently needed. At St Ignatius Church in Galway, 2017 when improvements in the roof were completed, Martin Curry SJ agreed to the installation of six specially designed Swift Nesting boxes to compensate for the birds loss of access to spaces under the roof of the church. This summer four new nesting boxes were added to the church. Father Liam O’Connell SJ has written an account about the installation below».

New nests

On 26 June 2025 Murt Curry SJ was again present to welcome the installation of four new nesting boxes, the Vivara Pro GZ 10. This design is especially suitable and long-lasting for the wet Irish conditions. A Sloping roof also means that predators can’t sit on top of the box. Each unit has large internal nest space with an indented nest mould in the floor of the nest box. An essential part of this project, is a Swift Caller System, which was also installed beside the nesting boxes. This is a small electronic device that plays a recording of the swift calls through a speaker, and attracts the birds to the boxes.

These new boxes and their installation were provided by Galway City Council. The St Ignatius Church Community and the two local schools sincerely thank them for this. The Calway City Biodiversity Officer Paula, Kearney, managed the project, and she received expert advice througout from Lynda Huxley, of Swift Conversation Ireland. Both Colaiste Iognaid SJ and Scoil Iognaid SJ enthusiastically welcome the new boxes, and there are plans for the interactive involvement of students with the project, and they will be able to follow the development of the young birds with the aid of special cameras installed in the boxes, and relayed to their schools. Congratulations to everybody involved. Laudato Si!

Atached pictures show (1) the four newly installed Swift Vivara Pro GZ 10 boxes, and (2) Lynda Huxley, Martin Curry SJ, Paula Kearney and Liam O’Connell SJ during the installation.