Genealogical Society of Ireland
therefore, based on the genealogy of the armiger. This convention forms a part of a wider body of rules governing heraldry which is referred to as the ‘Law of Arms’ which were largely observed by the Chief Heralds of Ireland from 1943 when the contents of the Office of Arms in Dublin Castle were transferred to Irish control. This heraldic officer known as the Ulster King of Arms operated in Dublin by Letters Patent from the Crown from February 1552 to March 31st 1943. The contents of the Office of Arms, which was renamed the Genealogical Office in 1943, include genealogical records and heraldic material dating back to its establishment in 1552. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century many, mostly wealthy, members of the Irish diaspora sought grants of arms from the Ulster King of Arms as the herald with jurisdiction for the entire island of Ireland. Indeed, it was this interest from overseas and its revenue stream that encouraged the Irish government to agree to a request by Edward MacLysaght, first Chief Herald of Ireland, to continue the practice of granting arms. The manner in which this was commenced was later to prove problematic – see chapter 16. According to Susan Hood in ‘Royal Roots Republican Inheritance – The Survival of the Office of Arms’ (Dublin 2002), MacLysaght introduced a number of ‘innovative practices’ aimed at reviving an interest in Gaelic heraldry “recognising the traditional arms used by Gaelic families of antiquity before the foundation of the Office of Ulster King of Arms in 1552”. His ‘innovative practices’ were to introduce heraldry to a much wider public by the invention of the controversial concept of sept or clan arms. This was designed to allow anybody of a particular surname to display ‘without impropriety’ the arms associated with that clan or sept. These new clan/sept arms provided an instantly recognisable tentative visual link to a wider kinship group and to an ancient Irish ancestry identity. According to Hood, ‘thousands of such illustrations were executed by the heraldic artists during the later 1940s and 1950s, and purchased in large quantities by visitors to the Heraldic Museum’. A new heraldic industry was born which now spans the globe with its heraldic products displayed in homes, on businesses and in Irish pubs everywhere. The industry founded by MacLysaght created important symbols of Irish identity for many of Irish ancestry at home and across the world. These heraldic products are now manufactured by enterprises located in many countries with little or no association with Ireland and certainly none with the ‘office’ of the Chief Herald of Ireland. Designs are copied, materials sourced abroad, employment and profits remaining overseas, all generated by an Irish heraldic product in name only. These clan/sept arms are also displayed on flags and banners in the same way as the County Arms are displayed on GAA flags and banners – this is the vexillological aspect of the heraldic product. Clearly the concept created by MacLysaght and the products developed over the years emanating from his introduction of clan/sept arms, including coatsof-arms and family/clan flags, must be seen as ‘gateway products’ from which an interest in Irish genealogy later evolves amongst our diaspora. In short – got the T-Shirt with the coat-of-arms, now wonder where the folks came from. The Society sought through its Genealogy & Heraldry Bill, 2006, to repatriate this heraldic industry by the creation of authentic Irish heraldic products which would have employment potential in a number of areas Genealogical Society of Ireland
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