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Charlemont Arms Hotel
We know that the hotel already
offered ordinary baths when the proprietor, John Hughes, sold the
Charlemont Arms to Mr J H Mann, some time around 1863-4. When Mann died at the age of 38 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 supposedlyv 'remembered' and the hotel was already listed as having
Turkish baths in the 1864 valuation records. It seems most likely,
therefore, that Mann installed them as soon as he bought the hotel
around that time.
They remained open under the proprietorship of
Mann's widow Mary until some time between 1892 and 1894, though she did
try to sell the business during the summer of 1890. However, although
the hotel and baths were advertised, no sale materialised on this
occasion.
During this period the hotel was known rather grandly as Mann's Hotel and
Hydropathic Establishment. Some two years later it was still providing Turkish,
plunge, and other baths under the proprietorship of Mr James McMahon.
From around 1910 to 1915 the establishment was owned by a Mrs O'Hagen, but it
is not known 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.
The original page includes a thumbnail picture which can be enlarged.
The enlargement, and additional
details, can also be found at:
Advertisement for the sale of
the premises, 1890
Charlemont Arms Hotel, Armagh
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Catherine
McCullough, Curator of the Armagh County Museum
Mary Davies |
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