The village of Seskinore, Co. Tyrone is set in a boggy, marshy area. It is one of those old plantation villages in Ulster that has no pubs and no police station.
The Second World War brought many changes to the area. Among these was the cancellation of the Seskinore Hunt. Once known as the Tyrone Hunt, the annual event dated back to the 1860s. In 1886, the McClintock family renamed it to the Seskinore Hunt. They were the owners of Seskinore House, a grand home designed by the architect Charles Lanyon.
The influential McClintock family also oversaw the building of the Chapel of Ease, and the McClintock Primary School. The last McClintock master of the house was Colonel John “Jack” Knox McClintock who served in the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. The United States Army came to Seskinore House in 1943.
By this stage of the war, British troops had become a common sight on the streets of Seskinore. 1941 brought the arrival of evacuees from the city in the wake of the Belfast Blitz. Local Air Raid Precautions Officers Mr. Lynch and Mr. Walker oversaw the operation to find the evacuees safe homes in Seskinore.
Places of Interest
The following places will be of interest to anyone wishing to explore more of the area's Second World War heritage.