| Authur Keily |
Who was Authur Keily? I can not say with
100% certainty but I suspect my
bookplate
was used by Rev Authur Keily - Ussher the owner of
Ballysaggartmore Towers located in Co Waterford Ireland.
Born to John Keily as Authur Keily he changed his surname to
Ussher at the request of his grandmother Sarah Ussher in order
to received an inheritance from her. This document claims
he was Anglo Irish but if this is his bookplate it seems more
likely that he
was native Irish and descends from the O'Kelleys of Co Corke who
changed their name to Kelley and then later to Keily.
The Authur Keily bookplate to the right uses an Enfield standing on a wreath which is most commonly given with the O'Kelly Coat of Arms. The Enfield is a heraldry symbol that is used to show a great chief has fallen in battle and the O'Kellys traditional use it because Teige O'Kelly fell in the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. The single tower with Lions Rampart on each side is also common to the O'Kelly Arms but this tower has four turrets while the O'Kelly arms has three. The shield color is different as is the motto but there is enough like the O'Kelly arms to cause me to believe that the Authur Keily of this bookplate descended from one of the septs of O'Kellys of Ireland.  There
is a story said that Authur owned 8000 acres and in his attempt
to please his wife he had built several gated towers at the
entrances of his property but he spent so much on that
enterprise that the home appeared more modest as that was all he
could afford. You may learn more about these towers at
DiscoverIreland.com. |
| Back to the O'Kelly Coat of Arms page |