The Claddagh Ring: History and Symbolism
The Claddagh ring is a traditional Irish ring featuring a heart, a crown, and two hands symbolising love, loyalty, and friendship. In modern custom, the ring conveys the wearer’s relationship status. If the bottom of the heart is pointing out, the wearer is open to romance. If it is pointing towards the wearer’s body, they are romantically involved with someone - their heart is not ‘open’.
The ring’s design originated in the Claddagh (from the Irish cladach, meaning shore), a former fishing village near Galway City. There are several stories associated with the ring’s beginnings, but the most common tells of a Claddagh fisherman named Richard Joyce. In 1675, 15-year-old Joyce was being sent to the West Indies to start his new life as an indentured servant. Except he never made it - his ship was intercepted by an Algerian corsair (a group of Barbary pirates involved in the slave trade). There he remained for 14 years. When William III ascended to the throne of England in 1689, one of the first acts of his reign was to send an ambassador to Algiers, to demand the immediate release of all the British subjects detained there in slavery.
A 1685 painting of an English ship in action with Barbary corsairs illustrates the risk sailors must consider to earn a living during this time.
PHOTOGRAPH BY NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM, GREENWICH, LONDON, BRIDGEMAN IMAGES
When he arrived in Algiers, Joyce was purchased by a wealthy Turkish goldsmith, who taught him the trade. When this goldsmith heard that Joyce would be released, he offered his only daughter in marriage and half of his property. Richard had become such a skilled goldsmith that the Turk wanted him to stay, however, Richard refused and returned home to Galway. Once there, romantics claim that he married the girl that he had loved since before he left, and crafted the Claddagh ring for her.
The design borrowed on the fede ring motif, seen for centuries beforehand. Fede rings are an ancient design of rings consisting of two clasped hands. The design in Roman times was called dextrarum iunctio, from the Latin meaning joined right hands. During the Middle Ages, these rings were called fede rings from the Italian ‘mani in fede’ or ‘hands in faith’. The symbol is often associated with love or marriage, as is the case with the Claddagh ring. Even though they’d been used since mediaeval times, fede rings became a popular motif in both northern and southern Europe during the 12th century. A heart was added sometime in the 16th Century, and Joyce is credited with crowning the heart. The heart embodies Joyce’s love for his bride, the two hands symbolised their friendship, and the crown represented his loyalty to her.
A post-medieval fede ring, dated between 1700 - 1800 A.D. Found in 2009, and shared on the Portable Antiques Scheme website in the UK.
Tradition states that the ring was passed down from mother to daughter, but the diameter of the earliest surviving Claddagh ring indicates that it was worn by a man, and likely one of considerable wealth and high social standing, to be in a position to afford a solid gold ring. Despite the ring’s name, high poverty rates in the Claddagh make it unlikely that the rings were owned by Claddagh villagers. Earlier examples made of pure gold were more often owned by prominent Galway families, who could afford to keep them as heirlooms. However, hard times in the west of Ireland resulted in people selling their rings or melting them down for cash, making older examples of the ring relatively rare.
The oldest Claddagh ring, which you can see below, is a gold piece dating to about 1700, bears Richard Joyce’s maker’s mark and the inscribed initials of two of its previous owners. In 2020 it was acquired by the Galway City Museum from an auction of a collection owned by Garech Browne, an heir to the Guinness brewery fortune. The collection included a number of Claddagh rings made in Galway by different makers in the 18th and 19th centuries.
The Claddagh ring’s popularity beyond its country of origin is attributed to the diaspora of Irish people around the world owing to high emigration during the Famine in the 1840s. Victoria of England wore a Claddagh ring made for her in 1849 in Waterford. With the increase in tourism to Ireland in the latter half of the 20th century, particularly by people of Irish descent, Claddagh rings became synonymous with other symbols of Irish heritage such as shamrocks and harps. The ring was often marketed as a keepsake of one’s visit to the country. Actress Grace Kelly, princess of Monaco, and U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton were each presented with a Claddagh ring or brooch upon their state visits to Ireland.
The Claddagh ring stands as a testament to the enduring power of love, loyalty, and friendship. From its humble origins in a small Irish fishing village to its status as a global symbol of affection, the Claddagh ring continues to captivate hearts and inspire admiration. As we wear this timeless piece of jewellery, we not only honour its rich history but also celebrate the universal values it represents – love, loyalty, and friendship – that transcend time and culture.
References:
Egan, Riona. 2020. “Richard Joyce and the oldest known Claddagh ring • Galway City Museum.” Galway City Museum (Galway), August 26, 2020. https://galwaycitymuseum.ie/blog/richard-joyce-and-the-oldest-known-claddagh-ring/
Meneguzzi, Justin, and Chris Hill. 2024. “Irish Claddagh rings have an unexpected history—it involves pirates.” National Geographic, January 11, 2024. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/claddagh-rings-ireland-barbary-pirates-corsairs
Ostberg, René. 2022. “Claddagh ring | History, Design, & Facts.” Britannica, August 31, 2022. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Claddagh-ring
Portable Antiques Scheme. 2009. “Record ID: SUSS-DB9583.” Portable Antiques Scheme. https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/253488
