Turkish Baths, Lincoln Place

Turkish Baths, Lincoln Place
A photograph of the baths circa 1860-70.
General information
Type	Victorian Turkish baths
Classification	Demolished
Address	Lincoln Place, Dublin
Town or city	Dublin
Country	Ireland
Coordinates	53°20′31″N 6°15′04″W / 53.341985°N 6.251095°W / 53.341985; -6.251095
Construction started	1858
Completed	1860
Opened	2 February 1860
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Richard Barter (sculptor)
Developer	Richard Barter (physician)
Other designers	James Hogan & Son (Plasterers)
Quantity surveyor	Dwyer (Clerk of works)
Main contractor	Michael Meade & Son
References
[1][2]

The Turkish baths at Lincoln Place in Dublin, Ireland were Victorian Turkish baths opened on 2 February 1860.^[3]

The baths closed in 1900 after unsuccessfully being offered at auction as a going concern in June,^[4] after which the building was used for offices and other commercial activities before being demolished in 1970.^[5]

The baths opened on 2 February 1860 having been developed by the physician Richard Barter for the Turkish Bath Company of Dublin Limited, which was founded in 1859.^[6]

Designed by the sculptor and architect Richard Barter,^[7][8] the building was well received by the Dublin Builder magazine, which praised Irish builders for executing the unusual design so well noting particularly the elaborate plaster decoration on the facade carried out by Hogan & Sons of nearby Great Brunswick Street.^[9][6] The general contractor was Michael Meade & Sons also later of nearby Great Brunswick Street but at that time of Westland Row and working on his first recorded project.^[10]

On either side of central ticket office were separate bathing areas for men and women. A very prominent feature was the 50 foot high ogee-shaped dome which sat above the company board room.^[5] The interior featured "oriental arches and coloured bricks" and the floors were fitted with patterned tiles from Mintons.^[9] At the rear of the building, there was a bathing area for animals including horses.^[6] The main frontage was 186 feet long.^[5]

Initially very successful, the baths served 90 bathers a day for the first 4 years of operation.^[11]

There was an adjoining restaurant on the western corner of the building which was leased out to a succession of proprietors and was originally known as the Café de Paris, the first documented French restaurant in Dublin.^[6]

The bath attendants wore red dressing gowns and Turkish slippers,^[11] and served coffee and a chibouk to patrons relaxing after their bath.^[9]

Dr Barter left the business by 1867, and later opened a baths known as The Hammam on Sackville Street on 17 March 1869.^[12] The baths at Lincoln Place were subsequently refurbished in 1867, and again in 1875 in two phases. The works in 1875 saw the installation of modern showers and a plunge bath. With competition from The Hammam and new baths on St Stephen's Green,^[13] the baths went into liquidation in 1880 and were offered for sale by tender. They were purchased by the owners of the St Stephen's Green baths, Millar and Jury, and were modernised further.

John Curran is recorded as manager of the baths in Bray and later at Lincoln Place prior to his death in 1886.^[14]

After a series of events including a court case for negligence, Millar and Jury sold the baths in 1900.^[6]

After the bathing establishment closed, the building was used for a number of commercial purposes before it was demolished in 1970.

The baths are mentioned in James Joyce's Ulysses, where Leopold Bloom refers to them as "the mosque of the baths".^[5][9][15]

• Photographs of the baths from the National Library of Ireland collection
• Images of the baths from the RTE photo archives
• Images from the Irish Architectural Archive from 1950-70

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Turkish Baths, Lincoln Place.