Chasing My Tale since 67

Turris Fortis Mihi Deus

God is My Tower Of Strength

There is a tradition among the Kellys that they have borne this fabulous animal, the green Enfield, since the days of Tadhg Mór O'Kelly who fell "fighting like a wolf dog" against the Danes with the High King Of Ireland, Brian Boru at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014AD. When Tadhg Mór fell this animal issued from the nearby sea to protect the dead body of the chief until it was retrieved by his O'Kelly kinsmen.

The animal is sculptured on many old tombstones of the Kelly family in the Abbey of Kilconnell, and in the old church of Cloonkeen.

One commonly held heraldic definition of an enfield 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.

Or: A hybrid animal, with the head of a fox, chest of a greyhound, talons of an eagle, body of a lion, and the hind legs and tail of a wolf.

Another definition from an 1859 journal discussing the discovery of a bronze ancient (c.1400's AD) O'Kelly hand wax seal uncovered 20 ft beneath a bog on an excavation project, considerable research was done on the origins of the O'Kelly enfield on the seal:
"The Enfield is a heraldic animal, having the head of a fox, the breast feathered as an eagle's, the foreclaws also of an eagle; the remainder of the body that of a wolf." It follows from such description that the enfield, being compounded of the fox, eagle, and wolf, indicated that he, by whom it was borne, was reputed to possess the subtlety and cunning of the first named beast; the magnanimity and fortitude, with the honour, labor, industry, and diligence, in great manners, of the eagle; and the fierceness of the wolf." I find this account more believable since it seems to have a historical reference.