Wood Quay is a riverside area of Dublin that was a site of Viking settlement. Dublin Corporation acquired Wood Quay gradually between 1950 and 1975, finally announcing that it would be the location of their new offices.
Finds made during the initial excavation of the site led to a massive, but ultimately unsuccessful, public campaign to halt the development. Finds from the hastily excavated Wood Quay are now on display in the National Museum of Ireland. Most of the quay is now entirely occupied by Dublin City Council's Civic Offices.
In a later excavation between 1990 and 1993 further along the quay at Lower Exchange Street, an archaeological dig team unearthed a roundtower-like ruin from the 13th called Isolde's Tower. This tower was first discovered in the 17th century but most of it was destroyed and covered in. Because of the dig, the construction of underground parking facilities for a planned development on the site could not be constructed at their intended location. The tower is now viewable through railings on Lower Exchange Street and the car park ramp is further to the left.