Achmet Borumborad

Achmet Borumborad (fl. 1769–1786), or Achmet Borumbadad, was the assumed name of an eccentric medical con-artist, or quack, operating in late 18th-century Dublin, who succeeded in gathering financial support for the construction of a Turkish bath on the banks of the River Liffey. Purportedly a doctor, he claimed to have been born in Constantinople (Istanbul) from which he had subsequently fled. In reality, he was the fictitious creation of Patrick Joyce of Kilkenny (who had possibly spent his youth in the Levant), or possibly William Cairns of Dublin. Adopting the persona of a native Turk, his unusual dress style, turban, and exotic affectations attracted much attention in the city at the time, and he was noted as "the first Turk who had ever walked the streets of Dublin in his native costume."

History

Ballroom and Baths, Finglas

St Patrick's Well, Finglas in 2023

Borumborad's (a.k.a. Joyce's) presence in Dublin was first noted in the year 1769, whilst promoting the healing properties of baths and "a pump house" in the modern-day suburb of Finglas, County Dublin. Borumborad was convinced of the healing powers of the local St. Patrick's Well which fed the Finglas baths. The Dictionary of Irish Biography notes he was probably operating a medical practice of some description in the city, although no records attest to any recognised medical qualification he may have achieved.

On 1 May 1769, Borumborad (styled as "Achmet Borumbadad of ffinglass in the County of Dublin, Doctor of Physick") acted as grantor in a Deed of Mortgage to one George Taylor of the City of Dublin, Tallow Chandler, concerning "all that the Spring of water or well situate on the Lands called part of Cardiff's Castle (modern day Cardiffscastle) near the Town of ffinglass called St. Patrick's well together with that small piece of land adjoining the same part of the said lands as now enclosed [..] together with all buildings and improvements thereon made, built and erected by the said Achmet Borumbadad". The mortgage was valued at £150. Four months later, on 9 September 1769, Borumborad was involved in a 'further deed of Mortgage' with the same George Taylor whereby a further consideration of £140 was mentioned, involving the same well in Finglas, but with the addition of "all buildings and improvements erected and made on the said premises now called and known by the name of the Ballroom and Baths". Borumborad subsequently sub-leased the lands to Taylor in a Deed of Assignment dated 7 November 1769, for the residue (remainder) of an 18-year lease he himself had been leasing from one "Richard Shew of Ffinglass aforesaid, ffarmer". It is unclear when Borumborad had initially begun leasing the land from Shew.

Batchelors Quay, Dublin

Borumborad won the support of a number of Dublin medical professionals, and subsequently lobbied Parliament for money to build 'Hot and Cold Sea-Water Baths' along the quays of the River Liffey, together with free medical attention for the poor who attended. In October 1771, he finally opened his new Turkish baths on Batchelors Quay (modern day Bachelors Walk). In 1771, the House of Commons Journals make note of financial support given to 'Dr Achmet' for his baths, and notes are recorded for several following years after. The baths were a great success, with Jonah Barrington (judge, lawyer and prominent Dublin socialite) proclaiming that "a more ingenious or useful establishment could not be formed in any metropolis."

On 2 October 1772, George Townshend, acting as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (days before he relinquished the post to his successor), wrote a letter to the then-monarch (George III)'s secretary, requesting that he grant letters patent to Borumborad "for the Sole Use, Benefit & Advantage of his new(ly) constructed Baths & apparatus" in Dublin. Within the correspondence, Townshend noted that "the Whole Faculty of Physicians & Surgeons of the City of Dublin who viewed his (Borumborad's) said New Baths & Apparatus, have taken the Utility of the Same unto their most serious Consideration, & have thought proper, by a Certificate signed by them [..] to Signify their fullest Approbation thereof & to recommend & declare the Memorialist, as the Founder thereof, to be a Person worthy of Publick Encouragement in which Opinion I concur....". It is unclear whether George III granted the letters patent or not.

On 25 December 1774, Borumborad (now styled as "Achmet Borumbadad, Doctor of Physick, Proprietor of the Dublin Baths") began leasing a plot of land from Simon Vierpyl, a statuary (sculptor), consisting of a dwelling house and adjacent plot of land fronting 52 feet in total along Batchelors Quay. The adjacent plot of land had previously been used by Vierpyl as a portland stone yard. The term of the lease was for 149 years at the yearly rent of £73 (above taxes), and included a covenant whereby an additional rent of £5 per annum would be levied "in case a bridge shall be built across the River Liffee (sic) eastward of Essex Bridge from the time such bridge shall be completely furnished". Although the area was named as Batchelors Quay in this 1774 deed, it is worth noting that at least as early as John Rocque's 1756 map entitled An Exact Survey of the City and Suburbs of Dublin, the area was already known by some as Batchelors Walk, a precursor to the modern spelling of Bachelors Walk.

On 12 January 1778, Borumborad was admitted to the County Kildare "Knot", or Assembly of the Brethren, of the group known as The Friendly Brothers of Saint Patrick. Borumborad was admitted at the level of a Novice, and was not allowed to progress any further as he did not "profess" himself a Christian.

In September 1778, Borumborad sub-leased the lands at Batchelors Quay to one William Marshall, Esquire, for the remainder of the term of 149 years, subject to redemption on payment of £2,093. 10s. 0d on a date six years later in September 1784. An indented deed drawn up in April 1784, witnessed that Marshall reassigned the lease back to Borumborad "in consideration of the sum of £600. 17s. 1d (being the sum then due upon the foot of the said recited mortgage for principal interest and costs)". It is known that Borumborad also engaged in property developments in Abbey Street Lower around the same time.

Before every parliamentary session, Borumborad would give a large party, at which wine and song "ministered to the good temper of the Members (of Parliament)". As historian Maurice Craig contends, "On one occasion, hoping for a larger grant for an extension, he gave a particularly grand entertainment to nearly thirty of the leading Members. Unfortunately, while the Turk was in his cellar bringing up another dozen to finish the good work, a comparatively abstentious Member (Sir John S. Hamilton) got up to leave. He was pursued by some of the keener drinkers, who with wild cries protested that he must stay to drink the last dozen. He hastened his steps in what he believed to be the direction of the street-entrance, and (since it was dark and the evening well advanced) fell precipitately into the Doctor's great cold bath". Some of the other MPs also fell into the water after Hamilton, and it is considered that Borumborad lost influence with the group after the incident. Parliamentary support was withdrawn for his baths in the months that followed, and his reputation suffered as a result of a rumour that was spread amongst the citizens of the city that Borumborad had "...personally strangled the Christians in the Seven Towers of Constantinople".

In April 1784, Borumborad assigned the remainder of his lease at the Dublin Baths along Batchelors Walk to the Wide Streets Commission for the sum of £3,515. 16s. 6d.

Later life

Borumborad appears in a memorial of an Indorsement dated 1 June 1786, concerning the sale of the Conniving House tavern in Sandymount, "formerly in the possession of Michael Donnelly and lately in the possession of Richard Cranfield", an associate of Simon Vierpyl's. At this stage Borumborad was known as "Achmet Borum Badad (sic), Proprietor of the Royal Baths in the City of Dublin".

True identity

Borbumborad fell in love with, and married, the sister of a well-known surgeon anatomist named William Hartigan, who lived at 8 South King Street (and later Kildare Street). Borumbadad eventually revealed his true identity to this woman after being required to shave his beard and convert to Christianity in order to prove his devotion to her. An account of this event was recorded by a friend of the Hartigans named Miss Owen. Borbumborad (Joyce) subsequently vanished from the historical record, and his fate thereafter is unknown.

Writing his memoirs in the late eighteenth century, Jonah Barrington noted that "I regret that I never inquired as to Joyce’s subsequent career, nor can I say whether he is or not still in the land of the living." A 1956 article written by Desmond Ryan in the Irish Press, as well as the work of historian Richard Robert Madden, claim that the name Patrick Joyce may also have been a pseudonym, and that the man may actually have been a Dublin-based tradesman by the name of William Cairns.

Impact on literature

James Joyce's 1939 novel Finnegans Wake includes a character named "Afamado Hairductor Achmed Borumborad", an Indian sahib and aural surgeon whom the character of Anna Livia Plurabelle (ALP) consults on behalf of Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker (HCE). Spurr contends that the character of Borumborad (along with another character named Kavanagh) represents a hybrid figure recurring throughout the book which identifies the Irish with Indians as objects of colonial domination under the British. The character had an address at Sydney Parade, Dublin.

See also

• Ahmet Ben Ali, a merchant and presumed con-artist (purportedly from Tunis) who visited Dublin between 1780 and 1783
• List of fictitious people
• Sake Dean Mahomed, a Bengali traveller, surgeon, entrepreneur who lived in Cork during the 1780-90s
• Turkish Baths, Lincoln Place, a separate Dublin establishment which opened in 1860

Sources

• Benstock, Bernard (1 March 1965). "A Finnegans Wake Address Book". James Joyce Quarterly. 2 (3). Tulsa: University of Tulsa: 195–203. JSTOR 25486506.
• Devlin, Kimberley J.; Zhang, Mingming (1 September 2011). "ALP's Polyvocal Testimony in III.3: A Collaborative Interpretation". James Joyce Quarterly. 49 (1). Tulsa: University of Tulsa: 91–107. JSTOR 24598695.
• Craig, Maurice (1952). Dublin 1660-1860: The Shaping of a City. Dublin: Liberties Press. ISBN 978-1905483112.
• Fleetwood, Dr. John F. (1 September 1990). "Irish Quacks and Quackery". Dublin Historical Record. 43 (2). Dublin: Old Dublin Society: 70–84. JSTOR 30100953.
• Fraser, A. M. (1 August 1956). "The Friendly Brothers of St. Patrick". Dublin Historical Record. 14 (2). Dublin: Old Dublin Society: 34–40. JSTOR 30102639.
• Hart, W. A. (1 May 2002). "Africans in Eighteenth-Century Ireland". Irish Historical Studies. 33 (129). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 19–32. JSTOR 30006953.
• Hopkins, Frank (2002). Rare Old Dublin. Heroes, Hawkers & Hoors. Douglas, Cork: Marino Books. ISBN 1-86023-154-3.
• Spurr, David (1 December 1966). "Writing in the "Wake" of Empire". Modern Language Notes. 111 (5). Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press: 872–888. JSTOR 3251250.