Province Leinster | Major cities Dublin | |
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Talbot Street (Irish: Sráid Thalbóid) is a city-centre street located on Dublin's Northside and is one of the principal shopping streets of Dublin, running from Connolly station and the International Financial Services Centre at Amiens Street in the east to Marlborough Street in the west. The street is named after Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 2nd Earl Talbot, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, 1817-21. One of the street's most famous residents was Alfie Byrne, ten times Lord Mayor of Dublin.
Contents
Map of Talbot Pl, Dublin, Ireland
Streetscape
Talbot House, the offices for the Department of Education, is one of a number of significant buildings. To the east, a street renewal programme has improved the area close to Connolly Station. The editorial offices of the Irish Independent newspaper have relocated to Talbot Street and the presence of a number of financial institutions such as Irish Life & Permanent Plc. and Bank of Ireland have also helped to raise the profile of the street which traditionally has not enjoyed the same level of commercial success as Henry Street to the west of nearby O'Connell Street. The vista looking east along Talbot Street is closed by the impressive edifice of Dublin Connolly Railway Station at Amiens Street with its distinctive Italianate tower at its centre. The station is named in honour of Irish Socialist leader, James Connolly, leader of the Easter Rising in 1916 when commander of the Irish Citizen Army. A statue of Connolly has also been raised in nearby Beresford Place, opposite Liberty Hall, headquarters of SIPTU (Services, Industrial, Professional & Technical Union), the largest trade union in Ireland.
History
A momentous event in Irish history occurred on the street in October, 1920, when renowned republican, Seán Treacy (also spelt Tracey) of Tipperary was shot and killed outside the Republican Outfitters shop at number 94, having been spotted by British agents on clandestine patrol in the vicinity. A plaque of remembrance marks the spot and is the focus of an infrequent commemoration attended by large numbers of Tipperary people on the morning of the All-Ireland Hurling Final in years when the Tipperary team participate, thus underlying the close association of the Gaelic Athletic Association with Irish nationalism. In the 1930s, 40s and 50s there were a number of attempts to change the name of Talbot street to Seán Treacy street. In 1943, the Dublin Corporation passed a motion urging a change of name subject to the support of the majority of rentpayers on Talbot Street. However, the rentpayers of the street voted not to rename the street. Another horrific event, (part of the Dublin and Monaghan Bombings) of even greater proportions occurred in Talbot Street on 17 May 1974 where one of three car bombs allegedly planted by the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) exploded outside a shoe shop opposite Guineys near the Lower Gardiner Street intersection, killing 13 women and one man. Nobody has been charged with the bombings, despite a campaign of nearly 40 years to find the perpetrators.
Shopping Centres
The Irish Life Shopping Mall is a small shopping centre; it has a number of shops spread around a flat shopping mall and is easily accessible from both Talbot Street and Lower Abbey Street. The Centre which is a conglomerate of retail and office space with generous underground parking has a large frontage on Talbot Street.
Two well known department stores on Talbot Street have now closed. Clerys, whose main entrance was on O'Connell Street, closed suddenly in June 2015. Boyers closed in January 2016.
Retail & services
This list is not exhaustive