Achmet Borumborad

[10] Hopkins claims that his real name was William Cairns, as opposed to Joyce, that he had been born somewhere in the north of Ireland, and had been an apprentice apothecary in Dublin at one point.

[14] According to historian Michael J. Tutty, the pamphlet contained "...testimonials from his patients testifying to the life-giving properties of the waters, and inviting the public to join him in bringing them into use with 'taste and elegance' and in making Finglas a rival of Montpellier - then the great Continental resort".

[19] Borumborad made use of this favourable environment and lobbied Parliament for money to build 'Hot and Cold Sea-Water Baths' along the quays of the River Liffey,[20] together with free medical attention for the poor who attended.

[20] His plans were publicly endorsed by 50 surgeons and physicians, and 56 members of the Irish parliament who agreed to pay an annual sum for the upkeep of the facility.

[19] On 4 May 1771, a notice appeared in the Freeman's Journal declaring the approbation, or approval, of a list of 30 named physicians, and 19 chirurgeons, who believed that Borumborad was competent in carrying a "Publick Bath" scheme into existence.

[10] 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.

[24] 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....".

As the Rules and Regulations at large, as established and approved of by the Faculty, are too long for a Publication in a Newspaper, they will be printed and framed with the Gentlemen's Signatures thereto, and hung up in every Apartment of the Baths."

[29] According to Hewson, there was some doubt as to exactly "what part of the East Doctor Borumborad hailed from", but the author of a poem called The Medical Review published in 1775 registered no such doubts:[19] "His foreign accent, head close shaved or sheard, His flowing whiskers and great length of beard, His rolled-up turban, habit loose and cool, Denote him a true native of Stamboule".

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.

[32] 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.

[6] Frazer finished the paragraph with the brief epitaph: "Achmet, who was the son of a Dublin tradesman named Kearns, dressed like a Turk, and passed for one for some years.

[20] 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)[37][38] got up to leave.

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".

[38] 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".

[37] 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.

[41][37] 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.

[37] The woman's first name is unknown, but a 1954 article in the Irish Press by historian Desmond Ryan states that she was an "actress of some notoriety", and that Borbumborad "subsequently abandoned her".

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."

St Patrick's Well, Finglas in 2023
Bachelors Walk , Dublin in 2012