The armorial bearings of some of the O'Kelly branches have slight differences. All, however, show the green enfield as their crest. There is a tradition among the O'Kellys that they have borne this visage 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 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 O'Kelly family in the Abbey of Kilconnell, and in the old church of Cloonkeen. 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.