Belturbet ‘Kingstone’ set to go on display

Seamus Enright

A coat of arms previously removed and destroyed from Belturbet’s former Market House, but now fully restored, will be reinstated to its place of origin this evening (Saturday).
Commissioned in 1722, and carved by James Armstrong, the Kingstone was for many years mounted on a wall in the current Belturbet Library and Civic Centre, behind the local magistrate’s desk. It was displayed as a mark of “loyalty” to the new King George I by the townspeople of Belturbet at the time and its return is a result of a community effort to have it restored to its former glory.
The reinstatement, as part of National Heritage Week (August 20-28), will be celebrated this Saturday, August 27 at 7pm.
Newly framed, the Kingstone was recovered and stored for safe-keeping by Belturbet historian George Morrissey, who will act as guest speaker on the evening.
Adorned with imagery of a unicorn, a lion rampant and a lion passive, the Kingstone carving had also been on display at the Belturbet Railway Station prior to its restoration. Mr Morrissey had previously told The Anglo-Celt that the town, as we know it today, started with the Plantation of Ulster in 1604, adding that: “The only people allowed to use that image as a symbol on their coats of arms were in fact the monarchs themselves. The unicorn, which has reference going back to the time of David in the Bible, was considered to have magical powers and also thought to be very dangerous. Hence, why you’ll see in some coats of arms the depiction of it being chained to the ground, as we see some evidence of here,” explained Mr Morrissey.