Hi °C | Lo °C Part of the original Viking Dublin city wall has been exposed to the public for the first time within the civic offices on Wood Quay.
When the massive Viking settlement site near Christchurch Cathedral was first excavated over 30 years ago, it caused huge controversy.
Thousands of people demanded that the historically important area be preserved from a development which was designed to house the Dublin City civic offices.
The Danish National Museum expressed its "great sorrow" at being told of the decision to demolish the archaeological site and economist TK Whitaker warned Taoiseach Jack Lynch that destroying the site would do irreparable harm to Ireland's reputation.
However, in 1978, the Government pressed ahead with the plans to build the controversial development and archaeologists were given a deadline to complete their investigation before building work began.
revealed
The original 12th-century Dublin city wall has been concealed beneath the building since then, but it has now been revealed in a permanent underground display.
Dublin City Council and the Heritage Council have been developing the City Wall Space over the past five years.
"The conservation of the fabric of the city walls was identified within the plan as of paramount importance," a spokesperson said.
The finds, which were uncovered during the archaeological excavation of the area, are now on display in the National Museum of Ireland, while most of the quay is now entirely occupied by Dublin City Council's civic offices.
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