Bank of Ireland, 25 Campsie Road, Omagh, Co. Tyrone, BT79 0AE

Bank of Ireland, 25 Campsie Road, Omagh

A detached multi-bay two-storey-over-basement Arts and Crafts-style bank built in 1894 to designs by Millar and Symes, constructed by Mr. Colhoun of Londonderry. The building demonstrates distinctive craftsmanship in contrasting materials—red brick, render, sandstone, and terracotta—and presents an unusual and eclectic composition with interlocking volumes and varied ornamentation that creates a lively civic presence. The original plan remains largely discernable despite subsequent modernisation.

The building is L-shaped in plan, facing north towards Campsie Road. The walling is Flemish-bonded red brick over a splayed basalt plinth. The roof is hipped natural slate with roll-top blue and black clay ridge tiles and ogee-profile cast-iron gutters on a dentilled brick cornice.

The principal north elevation is asymmetrical, comprising an exposed section flanked to the right by a return, to the centre by a projecting bay, and to the left by a porch. The exposed section features two bipartite 10-light casements with a central mullion at first-floor level; the ground floor has a single window to the right and a tripartite mullion-and-transom window to the left. The porch has a shaped gable with a terracotta panel embossed "1894" beneath the gablet. The door features a moulded sandstone architrave with a ball finial-capped keystone, accessed by three basalt steps to the left. The return to the right has a shaped gable; the first floor contains a tripartite mullion-and-transom window, whilst the ground floor is faced in sandstone ashlar with a moulded entablature (latterly inscribed with Bank of Ireland letters) extending to the first-floor sill-course, and features a quadripartite mullion-and-transom window flanked by pillars on each side. The projecting bay, abutted by a bank porch, is detailed to match the return and has a single first-floor window; its left cheek is visible. The bank porch entrance has a moulded sandstone architrave with a ball finial-capped keystone sprung from moulded imposts, flanked by one pillar to the right and two to the left.

Windows throughout are square-headed with moulded sandstone mullion-and-transom frames, fitted with painted timber casements (typically 4-light over single-light). Doors are replacement items with round heads, moulded panels, and plate-glass fanlights.

The east elevation shows a single square-headed painted timber 8-light casement with a moulded sandstone sill; the greater portion is abutted by a single-storey addition (inaccessible to survey). The rear south elevation is multi-bay, faced in cement render, featuring a variety of square-headed painted timber 1/1 sash windows at ground-floor level protected by metal grilles; the eaves are raised to the centre with a half-gabled wallhead over two windows. The west elevation is largely obscured by a later single-storey-over-basement flat-roofed extension, which has painted block-marked walling, a moulded cornice and sill-course, a tripartite mullion-and-transom window to the left, five modern diminutive casement windows to the right, and a round-headed ATM projection with a moulded archivolt sprung from pillars.

The property is bounded by low walls and railings to the front along Campsie Road and by a tall wall to the rear. The forecourt is landscaped with potted plants and gravel; the rear is set out in lawn.

The building first appears on the third edition Ordnance Survey map of 1905–6. Valuation Revisions record a "new building in progress" in 1895, with the site revised from "land" to "house, offices and land" in 1896, valued at £96. The original occupier is listed as the Governors of Bank of Ireland; subsequent occupiers included M. McWalters (from 1901), Richard W. Topp (from 1913), and the Governors of Bank of Ireland again from 1915. The building remains in use as a bank.