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Claddagh ring
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Claddagh ring
A Claddagh ring (Irish: fáinne an Chladaigh) is a traditional Irish ring with three primary features: a heart to represent love, a crown to represent loyalty, and two clasped hands to symbolise friendship. The design and customs associated with it originated in Claddagh, County Galway. Its modern form was first produced in the 17th century. Claddagh rings have been used as engagement and wedding rings in medieval and Renaissance Europe. The oldest surviving examples of the Claddagh ring were forged by Bartholomew Fallon.
The Claddagh ring belongs to a group of European finger rings called fede rings. The name derives from the Italian phrase mani in fede ('hands [joined] in faith' or 'hands [joined] in loyalty'). This ring group dates to Ancient Rome, where the gesture of clasping hands meant pledging vows. Cut or cast in bezels, they were used as engagement and wedding rings in medieval and Renaissance Europe to signify "plighted troth".
In recent years, it has been embellished with interlace designs and combined with other Celtic and Irish symbols, corresponding with its popularity as an emblem of Irish identity.
Galway[vague] has produced Claddagh rings continuously since at least 1700, but the name Claddagh ring was not used before the 1830s. Although there are various myths and legends around the origin of the ring, it is almost certain that it originated in or close to the small fishing village of Claddagh in Galway.
There are many legends about the origins of the ring, particularly concerning Richard Joyce, a silversmith from Galway circa 1700, who is said to have invented the Claddagh design. Legend has it that Joyce was captured and enslaved by Algerian Corsairs around 1675 while on a passage to the West Indies; he was sold into slavery to a Moorish goldsmith who taught him the craft. King William III sent an ambassador to Algeria to demand the release of any and all British subjects who were enslaved in that country, which at the time would have included Joyce. After fourteen years, Joyce was released and returned to Galway and brought with him a ring he had fashioned while in captivity: what has come to be known as the Claddagh. He gave the ring to his sweetheart, married, and became a goldsmith with "considerable success". His initials are in one of the earliest surviving Claddagh rings. There are three other rings also made around that time bearing the mark of goldsmith Thomas Meade.
The Victorian-era antiquarian, Sir William Jones, described the Claddagh in his book Finger-Ring Lore, and gives Chambers' Book of Days as the source. Jones says:
The clasped hands [style ring] ... are ... still the fashion, and in constant use in [the] ... community [of] Claddugh [sic] at [County] Galway ... [They] rarely [intermarry] with others than their own people.
An account written in 1906 by William Dillon, a Galway jeweller, claimed that the Claddagh ring was worn in the Aran Isles, Connemara and beyond. Knowledge of the ring and its customs spread within Ireland and Britain during the Victorian period, and this is when its name became established. Galway jewellers began to market it beyond the local area in the 19th century. Further recognition came in the 20th century.
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Claddagh ring
A Claddagh ring (Irish: fáinne an Chladaigh) is a traditional Irish ring with three primary features: a heart to represent love, a crown to represent loyalty, and two clasped hands to symbolise friendship. The design and customs associated with it originated in Claddagh, County Galway. Its modern form was first produced in the 17th century. Claddagh rings have been used as engagement and wedding rings in medieval and Renaissance Europe. The oldest surviving examples of the Claddagh ring were forged by Bartholomew Fallon.
The Claddagh ring belongs to a group of European finger rings called fede rings. The name derives from the Italian phrase mani in fede ('hands [joined] in faith' or 'hands [joined] in loyalty'). This ring group dates to Ancient Rome, where the gesture of clasping hands meant pledging vows. Cut or cast in bezels, they were used as engagement and wedding rings in medieval and Renaissance Europe to signify "plighted troth".
In recent years, it has been embellished with interlace designs and combined with other Celtic and Irish symbols, corresponding with its popularity as an emblem of Irish identity.
Galway[vague] has produced Claddagh rings continuously since at least 1700, but the name Claddagh ring was not used before the 1830s. Although there are various myths and legends around the origin of the ring, it is almost certain that it originated in or close to the small fishing village of Claddagh in Galway.
There are many legends about the origins of the ring, particularly concerning Richard Joyce, a silversmith from Galway circa 1700, who is said to have invented the Claddagh design. Legend has it that Joyce was captured and enslaved by Algerian Corsairs around 1675 while on a passage to the West Indies; he was sold into slavery to a Moorish goldsmith who taught him the craft. King William III sent an ambassador to Algeria to demand the release of any and all British subjects who were enslaved in that country, which at the time would have included Joyce. After fourteen years, Joyce was released and returned to Galway and brought with him a ring he had fashioned while in captivity: what has come to be known as the Claddagh. He gave the ring to his sweetheart, married, and became a goldsmith with "considerable success". His initials are in one of the earliest surviving Claddagh rings. There are three other rings also made around that time bearing the mark of goldsmith Thomas Meade.
The Victorian-era antiquarian, Sir William Jones, described the Claddagh in his book Finger-Ring Lore, and gives Chambers' Book of Days as the source. Jones says:
The clasped hands [style ring] ... are ... still the fashion, and in constant use in [the] ... community [of] Claddugh [sic] at [County] Galway ... [They] rarely [intermarry] with others than their own people.
An account written in 1906 by William Dillon, a Galway jeweller, claimed that the Claddagh ring was worn in the Aran Isles, Connemara and beyond. Knowledge of the ring and its customs spread within Ireland and Britain during the Victorian period, and this is when its name became established. Galway jewellers began to market it beyond the local area in the 19th century. Further recognition came in the 20th century.
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