As the crest of the borough is rather more crowded
than Limavady
itself, I'll present a somewhat lengthy heraldic explanation (freely
borrowed from the official guide to the town).
The coat of arms consists of:
- Shield
- Crest
- Helmet
- Motto
- Supporters and
- Mantling.
The lower half of the shield uses the former coat of
arms of the old Limavady district council. It shows two crossed bands
with shells. This is taken from the coat of arms of the Connolly family
who owned all the land around Limavady from 1697.
The upper part of the shield is a wavy blue band. This
is taken from the Phillips coat of arms. The Phillips also owned all
the land around Limavady until they sold it to the Connolly clan. As
the Phillips had received the land as a grant from James I (in 1612)
they must have made a tidy profit from the transaction. (Dealing in
land is still very profitable in the town, so not much has changed over
the years.)
The same blue band also features in the arms of the
Haberdashers' company, who owned a lot of land around Ballykelly. On
the blue band are two sets of crossed fish, which were taken from the
arms of the O'Cahan family and the Fishmongers' Company. Between the
fish sits St. Columba in his boat. He came to visit the Convention of
Drumceatt in 575, just outside the town. He must have travelled up the
river Roe in this boat, although I for one don't believe that he was
that big, or alternatively, that he managed to stay afloat in such a
tiny craft.
The crest on top of the helmet shows a mural crown,
denoting the Borough status of the council. Inside this is a rock from
which an Irish wolfhound leaps. This is taken from the famous O'Cahan
tale explained elsewhere. The dog is carrying a broken lance from the
Crest of the Phillips family.
How the creature managed to take off at all - carrying
all that useless weight - is a mystery that I am at a loss to explain.
The supporters are from the Phillips and O'Cahan arms.
On the left is a sinister looking cat_a_mountain, (O'Cahan) joined on
the right by a dexterous black lion, (Phillips). They appear to be
giving a cats' concert.
Below the shield is the motto: ABSIT INVIDIA which
means "Let there be no ill-will"; a most admirable motto if adhered to.
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