Enfield

Enfield may refer to:

Places

In Ireland:

In Australia:

In Canada:

In England:

London Borough of Enfield

The London Borough of Enfield ( pronunciation ) is a London borough in north London with some districts within the borough straddling north-east London, England. It borders the London Boroughs of Barnet (to the west), Haringey (to the south) and Waltham Forest (to the south-east), the districts of Hertsmere (to the north-west), Welwyn Hatfield and Broxbourne (both to the north) in Hertfordshire, and Epping Forest (to the east) in Essex. The local authority is Enfield Council.

Etymology

Enfield was recorded in Domesday Book in 1086 as Enefelde, and as Einefeld in 1214, Enfeld in 1293, and Enfild in 1564: that is 'open land of a man called Ēana', or 'where lambs are reared', from the Old English feld with an Old English personal name or with Old English ēan 'lamb'. The feld would have been a reference to an area cleared of trees within woodland later to become Enfield Chase.

Historical

Enfield Town used to be a small market town in the county of Middlesex on the edge of the forest about a day's travel north of London. As London grew, Enfield Town and its surrounds eventually became a residential suburb, with fast transport links into central London.

Enfield (heraldry)

The enfield is a fictitious creature sometimes used in heraldry, having the head of a fox, forelegs like an eagle's talons, the chest of a greyhound, the body of a lion, the hindquarters and tail of a wolf.

O'Kelly

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 (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.