Farm buildings adjacent to, Shooting Lodge, Seskinore Road, Seskinore, Omagh, Co Tyrone, BT78 1UF

These are a range of attached multi-bay single- and two-storey farm outbuildings dating from the late 19th century, situated on the east side of Seskinore Road, Seskinore, Omagh. They form the southern portion of a wider farmyard group, with a second group of outbuildings located to the north. Both groups are accessed by a lane from the west. The buildings were designed by architects Boyd and Batt and were most likely constructed around 1862 as part of extensive works to the now-demolished Seskinore Lodge, the main house to which they originally belonged.

The outbuildings are arranged around an enclosed courtyard, each range rectangular on plan. Roofs are finished in natural slate with blue/black clay ridge tiles, timber bargeboards, and replacement uPVC rainwater goods. Walls are generally roughcast lime-rendered brick over a painted plinth, except where noted. Windows throughout are one-over-one timber-framed sliding sashes with projecting stone cills, and doors are vertically sheeted timber, unless stated otherwise. Rainwater goods are cast-iron half-round gutters with round downpipes.

The north single-storey range has lime-washed rubble walling and timber fascias, with the roof partially replaced to the east. Its south elevation has two segmental-arched-headed openings to the right and a square-headed opening to the left, all containing vertically sheeted timber doors; there are two windows to the left and three to the right, the latter showing evidence of an original segmental-arched carriage arch that has since been blocked. All windows on this elevation are covered by fixed cast-iron railings. The west gable has a single round-arched opening. The north elevation has three square-headed openings to the right. The east gable is abutted by the two-storey east range.

The east two-storey range originally had a symmetrical west elevation, though it has since been abutted on the left by the west range. The exposed section to the right contains two round-arched-headed openings — the right-hand one now blocked — each separated by a single round-arched window, with two further such windows to the left; all have double brick voussoirs. At first floor there are six square-headed louvred openings of differing sizes. The north gable has a large double-height square-headed opening with a vertically sheeted timber door. The east elevation has a scattered arrangement of eleven square-headed timber louvred openings in total — eight at ground floor and three at first floor — oriented around a central entrance (now covered) that is surmounted by a painted coat of arms.

The south single-storey range has whitened rubble walling and corbelled brick chimneys. Its north elevation has, to the left, a square-headed entrance door flanked on the left by square-headed windows and on the right by four square-headed windows; to the right, an attached bay with a higher eaves level contains a square-headed door opening. The east gable and south elevation are both blank. The west gable contains a single window.

The west single-storey range has, on its west elevation, a segmental-arched carriage arch and a square-headed opening to the left, and a door flanked on both sides by louvred openings to the right. The south gable is blank. The east elevation has a central square-headed entrance accessed by three stone steps, with six small openings at high level to the left. Access to the courtyard is through a pair of steel gates to the north-west and south-west, each supported on a pair of square rubble piers.

The buildings are well maintained and remain largely intact in terms of their materials, massing, and proportions. Their traditional rural farmyard setting, together with the related outbuildings to the south, enhances their overall character.

These outbuildings are the surviving remnant of Seskinore Lodge, which has since been demolished. The Lodge appears on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1833, captioned as such. The outbuildings themselves do not appear until the third edition of 1906, which also shows a Chapel of Ease and a Pheasantry within the grounds. The Townland Valuation of 1828 to 1840 records the house and offices as occupied by a Mrs Perry and valued at £30. The Ordnance Survey Memoirs and Samuel Lewis both identify the Lodge as the residence of Mrs Perry. Writing in 1833, Atkinson described it as follows: "Seskinore Lodge, the seat of Mrs Perry (relict of the late George Perry Esq) is part and parcel of the Seskinore estate and comprehends a neat and fashionable lodge, a tastefully planted lawn and about sixty Irish acres of a farm, well adapted to the growth of flax and corn crops, and to that of garden vegetables and ornamental trees. The demesne, however, lies low and the prospect from the lodge is exclusively confined to the little beauties of the home view in which the rose, the sweet William and the sweet brier seem to vie, which shall diffuse the larger proportion of its fragrance through the surrounding scene."

By the time of Griffith's Valuation the property had passed to the McClintock family. By 1860, George P. McClintock owned it outright and it was valued at £30. In 1862 a new house was noted as having been built, raising the value to £65. The Dublin Builder of March 1862 records that Messrs Boyd and Batt were the architects for "an extensive addition to the mansion-house of Seskinore…for Captain McClintock," with the contract executed by Mr McClelland of Derry. A subsequent issue of October 1862 gives the total cost of the additions and alterations as £2,074 10s 5d. It is at this time that the present outbuildings are likely to have been constructed. It is also recorded that George P. McClintock established the Tyrone Hunt — later known as the Seskinore Hunt — around this same period. He served as Master of the Hunt until 1886, when he was succeeded by his son, who retired in 1905.

By 1933 the whole property was valued at £435, subsequently reduced to £130. In 1935 valuers noted that the last additions to the building had been made in 1860, and that the original building dated from 1600, though this dating has been questioned. At that time John McClintock owned the house, and a valuer's note remarked that "the office housing is all in fairly good repair and moderately maintained but far too extensive for the owner's immediate requirements." The value was further reduced to £65. By 1954 the main house was recorded as demolished.

Historical records quoted by Mitchell from Pike's Province of Ulster (1909) provide background on the Perry and McClintock families: a James Perry was granted free farm lands from Sir Audley Mervyn in 1662. The estates eventually passed to George Perry, whose grandson died without issue, after which they passed to his nephew Samuel McClintock, a Lieutenant in the 18th Royal Irish Regiment and High Sheriff of County Louth. Samuel's eldest son was George Perry McClintock, a Colonel who commanded the 4th Royal Enniskilling Fusiliers, served as aide-de-camp to both the Duke of Abercorn and Earl Spencer when Lords Lieutenant, and was a Justice of the Peace, Deputy Lieutenant for County Tyrone, and High Sheriff in 1865.