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| Location | Dublin, Ireland |
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| Coordinates | 53°21′00″N6°15′50″W / 53.35000°N 6.26389°W |
| Address | Henry Street, Dublin 1 |
| Opening date | November 12, 1981 |
| Website | www |
The Ilac Centre is a shopping centre, located in central Dublin, north of the River Liffey. It has entrances opening onto Henry Street, Parnell Street and Moore Street.
The Ilac Centre was opened in 1981, and was one of the first shopping centres in Dublin city centre. [1] It has been characterised as a "large, low and dull cruciform" shopping complex. It was designed by David Keane & Partners in 1977. [2] The centre is owned by Hammerson and Irish Life Assurance plc. The name was made up from the initial letters of the company as it was then known - Irish Life Assurance Company. Irish Life also previously owned the Irish Life Mall on Talbot Street. It was a scaled back project from the initial 50 acre development proposed by Nathaniel Lichfield, an English master planner, in the mid-1960s. [3] To construct the new shopping centre, a network of old laneways and alleys were demolished, including Riddle's Row, Cole's Lane, and Little Denmark Street, the street from which 2RN had broadcast first in 1926. Four markets were lost, Norfolk Market, Rotunda Market, Taaffe's Market, and Anglesea Market which was famous for its second-hand clothes. [4] The streets were populated densely with shops, while the western side of Moore Street were surviving buildings from the Easter Rising in 1916. In total over 100 buildings were demolished to make way for the new development. The existing street traders on Moore Street were not consulted about the new shopping centre and the changes to the area. Having acquired the plot by a compulsory purchase order, the Dublin Corporation sought to develop the site with 400,000 square feet of retail space, 300,000 square feet of office space in two 14-storey blocks, a theatre, 2 cinemas, restaurants and bars. [5] To realise the plan to Corporation awarded the development contract to Irish Life. Construction began in late 1978, with a much reduced footprint of 200,000 square feet total, having left the site derelict for 4 years. The library was opened in 1985. [6]
When it opened, it was the first shopping centre in Ireland to have glass lifts [7] , which have since been closed. The shopping centre was refurbished in 2006, with improvements including the raising of ceilings and shop fronts. [8]
The centre has over 80 stores. [1] The first floor of the centre is occupied by Dublin's Central Library, which has language learning facilities, a Music Library and Business Library. [9]
There is also a small chapel located in the shopping centre, which closed in 2019 after a disagreement between the centre's management and the Dublin Archdiocese over who was responsible for the chapel. [10]
Dublin Castle is a former motte-and-bailey castle and current Irish government complex and conference centre. It was chosen for its position at the highest point of central Dublin.
College Green is a three-sided plaza in the centre of Dublin, Ireland. On its northern side is the Bank of Ireland building, which until 1800 was Ireland's Parliament House. To its east stands Trinity College Dublin. To its south stands a series of 19th-century buildings.
O'Connell Street is a street in the centre of Dublin, Ireland, running north from the River Liffey. It connects the O'Connell Bridge to the south with Parnell Street to the north and is roughly split into two sections bisected by Henry Street. The Luas tram system runs along the street.
Ballymun is an outer suburb of Dublin, Ireland, at the northern edge of the Northside, the green-field development of which began in the 1960s to accommodate a housing crisis in inner city areas of Dublin. While the newly built housing was state-of-the-art at the time, comprising high-rise tower blocks and flat complexes, residents were moved in years before shops, schools and other infrastructure were fully ready, and the area became well known for both a strong community spirit and considerable social challenges. Ballymun has several sub-districts such as Sillogue, Coultry, Shangan and Poppintree, and is close to both the Republic of Ireland's only IKEA store and to Dublin Airport. The area is the source of one Dublin river, and parts lie in the floodplain of another, and there are a number of parks.
Temple Bar is an area on the south bank of the River Liffey in central Dublin, Ireland. The area is bounded by the Liffey to the north, Dame Street to the south, Westmoreland Street to the east and Fishamble Street to the west. It is promoted as Dublin's 'cultural quarter' and, as a centre of Dublin's city centre's nightlife, is a tourist destination. Temple Bar is in the Dublin 2 postal district.
St Stephen's Green is a garden square and public park located in the city centre of Dublin, Ireland. The current landscape of the park was designed by William Sheppard. It was officially re-opened to the public on Tuesday, 27 July 1880 by Lord Ardilaun. The square is adjacent to one of Dublin's main shopping streets, Grafton Street, and to a shopping centre named after it, while on its surrounding streets are the offices of a number of public bodies as well as a stop on one of Dublin's Luas tram lines. It is often informally called Stephen's Green. At 22 acres (8.9 ha), it is the largest of the parks in Dublin's main Georgian garden squares. Others include nearby Merrion Square and Fitzwilliam Square.
In the Republic of Ireland, the retail sector provides one of the largest sources of employment in the economy, representing over 12% of the workforce. As of 2017, approximately 40,000 wholesale and retail businesses employed almost 280,000 people in Ireland, with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment reporting that 90% of these businesses were Irish-owned.
Hammerson plc is a major British property development and investment company. The firm switched to real estate investment trust (REIT) status when they were introduced in the United Kingdom in January 2007. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index; it is also a constituent of the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Europe index, among others. The majority of Hammerson's portfolio is in the United Kingdom, but is also operates in continental Europe, including operations in France, Ireland, Spain, and Germany. It invests mainly in offices and retail premises.
Nassau Street is a street in central Dublin, running along the south side of Trinity College. It goes from Grafton Street in the west to the junction of South Leinster Street and Kildare Street in the east.
Dawson Street is a street on the southern side of central Dublin, running from St Stephen's Green to the walls of Trinity College Dublin. It is the site of the residence of the Lord Mayor of Dublin, the Mansion House.
Henry Street is located on Dublin's Northside and is one of the two principal shopping streets of Dublin.
Parnell Street is a street in Dublin, Ireland, which runs from Capel Street in the west to Gardiner Street and Mountjoy Square in the east. It is at the north end of O'Connell Street, where it forms the south side of Parnell Square.
Talbot Street is a city-centre street located on Dublin's Northside, near to Dublin Connolly railway station. It was laid out in the 1840s and a number of 19th-century buildings still survive. The Irish Life Mall is on the street.
Dame Street is a large thoroughfare in Dublin, Ireland.
Stephen's Green Shopping Centre is a large indoor shopping centre at the top of Grafton Street in Dublin, Ireland. It is named after St. Stephen's Green, a city park situated across the road from its main entrance. Its street address is St. Stephen's Green West.
Moore Street is a street in central Dublin, Ireland, off Henry Street, one of Ireland's main shopping streets. The famous Moore Street open-air fruit and vegetable market is Dublin's oldest food market. The market there is a famous landmark on the northside of the city.
Talbot Mall was a small shopping arcade located between Talbot Street, Northumberland Square, and Abbey Street in Dublin, Ireland. Operating for some years with only a few trading units, it latterly primarily formed a public passage between Talbot and Abbey Streets. As of 2021, permission was granted for a development which would replace the mall with a single supermarket and close the public passage between the streets, and this proceeded in 2022.
Apollo House was a 9-storey office block in Tara Street, Dublin, Republic of Ireland.
Beresford Place is a street in Dublin, Ireland originally laid out as a crescent surrounding The Custom House in 1792.
Earlsfort Terrace is a street in Dublin, Ireland which was laid out in the 1830s.
Citations
The Central Library is in the Ilac Shopping Centre [..and houses..] the Business Information Centre, the Open Learning Centre and the Music Library
Sources