Turkish baths in Ireland

Charlemont Arms Hotel Turkish Baths

We know that the hotel already offered ordinary baths when the proprietor, John Hughes, sold the Charlemont Arms to Mr J H Mann early in the 1860s. When Mann died in 1888, he was reported to have 'attached Turkish baths' to the hotel 'a few years ago', but terms such as 'a few years' tend to be much longer than supposedly 'remembered' and the hotel was already listed as having Turkish baths in 1862. It seems most likely, therefore, that Mann installed them as soon as he bought the hotel around that time. 

He had been ill for at least four years before he died, and had unsuccessfully attempted to sell the hotel in 1884. It remained open under the ownership of Mann's widow Mary until some time between 1892 and 1894. She tried again to sell the business during the summer of 1890, but although the hotel and baths were advertised, no sale materialised on this occasion either. During this period the hotel was known rather grandly as Mann's Hotel and Hydropathic Establishment.

On 5 October 1894, an advertisement in the Armagh Standard stated that the hotel was now under 'an entirely new management,' and the bath prices were included in the ad after the hotel details.

The new owner, Mr James M'Mahon, was still providing Turkish, plunge, and other baths in 1902 when he put the hotel up for sale by local autioneers, Thomas Brooks. Then, from around 1910 to 1915, the establishment was owned by a Mrs O'Hagen, but it is not known when she became the proprietor, or whether the Turkish baths were still open at this time.

The enlarged image of the outside of the building clearly shows the words TURKISH BATHS on the side of the hotel canopy. The photograph comes from the National Library of Ireland's Lawrence Collection of 40,000 glass plate negatives taken between 1870 and 1914.

This page last updated 06 March 2021