The enfield is a fictitious creature sometimes used in heraldry, having the head of a fox, the chest of a greyhound, the body of a lion, the hindquarters and tail of a wolf, and forelegs like an eagle's talons.
It is used as an emblem by some organisations in Enfield, London (for example, on the arms of the London Borough of Enfield and on the badges of Chace Community School, Enfield Ignatians R.F.C and of the football clubs Enfield (1893) F.C. and Enfield Town F.C.), but it is not sure whether it has any historic connection with the town. Its roots may be Irish.
The beast was on the coat of arms of the Municipal Borough of Enfield, which was amalgamated with the Municipal Borough of Edmonton and the Municipal Borough of Southgate to form the London Borough of Enfield.
The enfield is a rare heraldic mythical beast confined in its earliest apparitions in heraldic symbolism as the crest of the armorial bearing of the Ó Cellaigh clan of Ireland. Ó Cellaigh of Uí Maine are the most documented O'Kelly sept in early Irish history and annals. The enfield appears in Leabhar Ua Maine (The Book of the O'Kellys), whitch is amongst Ireland's finest ancient manuscripts and is held as an Irish national treasure.
There are other O'Kelly branch Armorial Bearings that have slight differences. However, one thing that they all have in common is the green enfield as their crest sitting aloof a golden crown with three crests and a base of studded jewels.
The ancient tradition among the O'Kellys is that they have borne this fabulous animal since the days of King Tadhg Mór Ua Cellaigh who fell "fighting like a wolf dog" on the side of the High King of Ireland, Brian Boru, at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. When Tadhg Mor fell this mythical beast issued from the nearby sea to protect the dead body of the chief until it was retrieved for proper burial by his kinsmen.
One commonly held heraldic definition of an enfield [1] is: A most extraordinary creature, it is composed as follows; the head of a fox, the chest of an elephant, the mane of a horse, the forelegs of an eagle , the body and hind legs of a hound , and the tail of a lion.
However, in an 1859 journal [2] discussing the discovery of a bronze ancient (c.1400's AD) O'Kelly hand wax seal uncovered 20ft beneath a bog on an excavation project, considerable research was done on the origins of the O'Kelly enfield on the seal, Viz.:---
The animal is sculptured on many old (c.1375–1650) tombstones of the O'Kelly family in the Abbey of Kilconnell (founded c. 1353 by King William Buidhe Ó Cellaigh), and in the old church of Cloonkeen.
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Wikis
Quiz
Search
