Ilac Centre

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]