Red Hand of Ulster

It has also been used however by other Irish clans across the island, including the ruling families of western Connacht (i.e. the O'Flahertys and MacHughs) and the chiefs of the Midlands (e.g. O'Daly, O'Kearney, etc.).

The Red Hand is first documented in surviving records in the 13th century, where it was used by the Hiberno-Norman de Burgh earls of Ulster.

[15] The exclusive rights to the use of the Red Hand symbol has proved a matter of debate over the centuries, primarily whether it belonged to the O'Neills or the Magennises.

[23][24] The O'Neills believed in the Middle Ages that a messianic 'red handed' king called Aodh Eangach would come to lead them and drive the English out of Ireland.

[28] In medieval Irish literature, several real and legendary kings were given the byname "red hand" or "red-handed" (lámhdhearg or crobhdhearg).

[21] The form and position of the Kells Dextera Dei is of a pattern usually found on the Continent, whereas that used at Monasterboice and Clonmacnoise appears to unique within Christendom.

[21] Bigger suggested the mention of the Dextera Dei in Psalm 118 and Acts 2 represented the old-world figurative expression signifying strength and power, and such hand symbols can be found in ancient civilisations including amongst others the Assyrians, Babylonians, Carthaginians, Chaldeans and Phoenicians.

[42] Hands feature prominently in Dermot O'Connor's 18th-century publication "Blazons and Irish Heraldic Terminology", with the Ó Fearghail sept bearing the motto Lámh dhearg air chlogad lúptha.

The most common heraldic shield in Galicia, as an autonomous region or as a kingdom, is a grail with crosses or shamrocks from the 13th century to the present day.

The Red Hand features in other Irish clan coats of arms including the O'Donnellys, O'Cahans, the McHughs of County Galway and their fellow Connacht kinsmen the Flahertys, Dalys, Melaghlins and Kearneys.

On the O'Neill and Donnelly coat of arms the motto is Lámh Dhearg Éireann (Red Hand of Ireland).

[citation needed] The head of the Guinness family, the Earl of Iveagh, has three Red Hands on his arms granted as recently as 1891.

[46] The Red Hand is present in the arms of a number of Ulster's counties, such as Antrim, Cavan, Londonderry, Monaghan and Tyrone.

[50] King James I of England established the hereditary Order of Baronets in England on 22 May 1611, in the words of Collins (1741): "for the plantation and protection of the whole Kingdom of Ireland, but more especially for the defence and security of the Province of Ulster, and therefore for their distinction those of this order and their descendants may bear (the Red Hand of Ulster) in their coats of arms either in a canton or an escutcheon at their election".