Dundalk

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DUNDALK

County : Louth

Official blazon

Argent a bend between six martlets gules with the Crest: A lion passant guardant or and for Supporters: On the dexter a bear rampant ermine and on the sinister a Norman foot soldier in armour, holding in the dexter hand a spear, proper and with the motto Mé do rug Cúchulainn cródha.

Origin/meaning

The arms were officially granted on October 9, 1968.

The bend and martlets are derived from the De Furnivall family one of whom Thomas De Furnivall obtained by right of marriage with Joan De Verdon daughter of Theobald DeVerdon a succession to a large part of the land and property of Dundalk and district about the year 1319. The De Verdons were the original Anglo-Norman family to receive a grant in North County Louth in the late 12^th century, as part of the Norman conquest, probably in peaceful succession to O'Cearbhaill, the last of the Kings of Airghialla.

The ermine boar supporter is derived from the arms of the O'Hanlon family, Kings of Airthir, who, following accession of the De Verdons, continued as tenants to them paying an annual rental of £5 as and when the same could be collected.

The origins of the foot soldier with his spear and sword is not known, neither is the lion on the crest, although the latter may be from the Mortimer family whose Roger held the Lordship of Louth in 1330. A Mortimer Castle stood in Park Street as late as the 17^th century.

The arms already appear on the old seal of the city of which the matrix is still available (at present in the collection of the National Museum of Ireland), see image below. The actual date of the matrix is not known, it has been attributed to the 12th century up to the 17th century, but it is probably dating from the middle of the 14th century.