Sub-sub-series 9 - Save Wood Quay Campaign

9 SubSubSubSeries, 84 files, 1 item

Material relating to a campaign to preserve Wood Quay, a significant archaeological riverside site of a Viking settlement, which was owned by Dublin Corporation (now Dublin City Council) and had which had been selected by them for construction of new civic offices and their headquarters. The Corporation announced a competition to developers and a design by Sam Stephenson was selected as the winner. The plans were submitted for planning approval, resulting in two city departments rejecting the plans on technical grounds. However, the city manager, Matt Macken, decided to override these objections and grant full approval on 24 December 1970. More than 30 groups and individuals lodged objections, including the National Monuments Advisory Council. Many also appealed to the relevant minister, Bobby Molloy. An oral hearing was held in March 1971, with Molloy eventually confirming the decision by Macken in July 1972. This approval had 15 conditions, including "that all reasonable opportunities and facilities shall be afforded to the National Monuments Advisory Council to inspect, record and recover matter of archaeological interest" from the site. Large-scale archaeological excavations were conducted on the site by the National Museum of Ireland at intervals between 1973 and 1981, led by Pat Wallace, after some initial exploration of the site in 1969.

The campaign to preserve the site of Viking settlement at Wood Quay, Dublin and for Dublin Corporation to build the new civic offices in an alternative location, began in 1976, headed by Professor F.X. Martin (FXM), Chairman of the Friends of Medieval Dublin, along with others including Mary Robinson. In 1978 the High Court declared the area a National Monument, but Dublin Corporation who owned the land, used a loophole in the law to allow them to build new civic offices on the site. The campaign resulted in a large protest march on 23 September 1978, attended by 20,000 people called "Save Wood Quay". When the media attention and mass public protests brought no results, and when a crucial part of the site was bulldozed after the collapse of the legal challenge, dramatic plans were hatched to seize and occupy Wood Quay. The site was stormed on 01 June 1979 as part of ‘Operation Sitric’ (named after the Hiberno-Norse king of Dublin, Sitric Silkenbeard, c 970-1042) and eventually 52 protestors held the site, supported by thousands of members of the public. While conditions were rough and relations with the construction crew very hostile, it was the decision of the Supreme Court to uphold an injunction against them that forced the occupiers out, on 21 June 1979. The archaeological excavation resumed for a further two years, until March 1981, and the new offices were finally opened in 1986.

While the campaign ultimately failed and the development went ahead, the extra time spent over the protests and legal battles over the preservation of the site meant that the excavations were more extensive than initially planned. It also led to the National Monuments (Amendment) Act 1994 which introduced several safeguards to ensure that Wood Quay would never happen again.

Open

Red storeroom, Green storeroom map drawer

Catalog

02/02/2023
05/11/2024