Negative Volume
The name Seskinore is derived from the Irish Gaelic seisceann mhór which means big marsh or bog. Tracing its roots back to the early 17th century, the population is still just a few hundred. To the north of the village is Seskinore Forest. Only remnants of an Ulster Plantation country estate can be traced: cast iron gates minus a gatelodge and outbuildings without a country house. Seskinore House was demolished in 1952 when the Ministry of Agriculture took over the 47 hectare estate. Up until 1941 it had been the seat of the Anglo Welsh Perry family and then through marriage the Anglo Scots McClintock family. Seskinore House was used by American soldiers during World War II.
An advertisement appeared in the Belfast Newsletter on 10 July 1940, “For sale by private treaty by the executor of Captain Wilfred Joynson-Wreford, deceased. Seskinore, County Tyrone. Beautiful country residence with about 120 acres land, portion of which is well wooded with valuable timber. The residence has modern conveniences and contains large entrance hall, inner hall, drawing room, dining room, library, smoke room, 11 bedrooms, servants’ apartments, kitchen, sculleries, pantries etc., six WCs, bathrooms. The out offices are most extensive, forming a large inner and outer yard. There are five cottages on the lands. The entire buildings are in splendid condition. The residence is situated in a good district, amidst beautiful surroundings, with nicely laid out grounds and gardens; and the entire property is held free of rent forever. Further cottages in the village of Seskinore can be included in sale, if so desired. Further particulars from McCoy Solicitors, Omagh, County Tyone.” There were no private takers.
A Garden of Remembrance lies deep in the forest. It marks the resting place of the last people to live in Seskinore House: Amelia “Leila” née Eccles-McClintock Joynson-Wreford (1898 to 1937) and Wilfred “Tony” Joynson-Wreford (1896 to 1940). Leila died of meningitis aged 38 and her husband Tony died three years later of tuberculosis aged 44. Their gravestones are surrounded by a colourful carpet of autumnal leaves. A third gravestone is of Tony’s son Patrick Anthony Joynson-Wreford (1928 to 2015). Tony was married three times – Patrick was the child with his second wife Olive née Trainor. Leila and Tony had one child: Xenia.
On 6 October 2005, Jonathan Rainey reported in the Tyrone Constitution, “The people of Seskinore recently welcomed back a long lost member of one of the village’s most respected families – over 65 years after she vanished from village life. Mrs Xenia Lewis, aged 70, from Townsville in Australia made an emotional return to Seskinore to try to answer some of the any questions that surround her childhood. Within the last year, Xenia has discovered that she is the granddaughter of Colonel John Knox McClintock, who contributed much to the life of Seskinore during his lifetime, including building the local primary school, before his death in 1936.”
“She has also discovered that she spent much of her early childhood in the village, even though today she has no memory of that time,” Jonathan records. “Both of Xenia’s parents died when she was still a young girl, leaving her in the care of an English guardian, who moved her to London, and then Sussex. As she got older, her guardian never revealed anything about her family or her life, in Seskinore. And in another twist to an already fascinating story Xenia has also met the half brother she never knew existed while she has been uncovering the truth about her past.” Xenia and Patrick restored the neglected Garden of Remembrance during her visit.
He concludes, “During a party organised in her honour at McClintock Primary School, Xenia told the assembled villagers, ‘It’s been a very emotional journey, but everyone has made me feel welcome, and I feel like I’ve come home. I think my father was really devastated when my mother died. According to an obituary published in the Tyrone Constitution, and from what numerous people have told me in Seskinore, my father used to go down to the Garden of Remembrance in the McClintock estate, where my mother is buried, at 6pm every single night with my mother’s dog, no matter what.’”
Seskinore House was rebuilt in 1862 to the design of the illustrious Sir Charles Lanyon. A formal symmetrical east facing façade had two bays on either side of a pedimented breakfront with three narrow roundhead windows above a balustraded Ionic portico – its outside columns coupled. Wide rustication in the form of stretched quoins terminated each end of the elevation. The side elevations had full height canted bay windows. The main block was two storeys with lower two storey ancillary wings to the west and north. Horizontal glazing bars creating four panelled windows were a popular fad of the second half of the 19th century and appeared in residences across Ulster including Seskinore House.
