The enfield has the head of a fox, forelegs like an eagle's talons, the chest of a greyhound, the body of a lion, and the hindquarters and tail of a wolf. It is occasionally portrayed with wings.[1][2]
The earliest known example of the enfield is the crest 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 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.
The animal is sculptured on many old (Шаблон:Circa–1650) tombstones of the O'Kelly family in the Abbey of Kilconnell (founded ca. 1353 by King William Buidhe Ó Cellaigh), and in the old church of Cloonkeen.
In 1859, an excavation project found a bronze 15th century O'Kelly seal 20 ft deep in a bog, prompting considerable research on the origins of the O'Kelly enfield on the seal:
In Australia, it was used in the crest of the former City of Enfield, South Australia (which was named after the London borough), and is still used by the Enfield Brass Band.[4] It is also used as the centrepiece of the squadron crest of 38 Squadron of the Royal Australian Air Force, in Queensland.
