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THE CLADDAGH RING MEANING The Claddagh ring (Irish: fáinne Chladaigh) is a traditional Irish ring given which
represents love, loyalty, and friendship (the hands represent friendship, the
heart represents love, and the crown represents loyalty) The design and customs associated with it originated in the Irish
fishing village of Claddagh
located just outside the old city walls of Galway now part of Galway City. The ring, as currently known, was first produced in the 17th
century. DESCRIPTION The Claddagh ring belongs to a group of European finger rings
called "Fede rings". The name "fede"
derives from the Italian phrase mani in fede ("hands [joined] in faith" or
"hands [joined] in loyalty"). These rings date from Roman times, when
the gesture of clasped hands was a symbol of pledging vows, and they were used
as engagement/wedding rings in medieval and Renaissance Europe. Fede rings are distinctive
in that the bezel is cut or cast to form two clasped hands that symbolize faith
and trust or "plighted
troth". The Claddagh ring is a variation on the fede ring, while the hands,
heart, and crown motif was used in England in the early 18th century. Towards the end of the 20th century there was an explosion of
interest in the Claddagh Ring, both as jewelry and as an icon of Irish
identity. In recent years it has been embellished with interlace designs and
combined with other Celtic and Irish symbols, but this is a very recent
phenomenon that corresponds with the worldwide expansion in popularity of the
Claddagh ring as an emblem of Irish identity. ORIGINS Galway has produced Claddagh
rings continuously since at least 1700, but the name "Claddagh ring" was not used before the
1830s As an example of a maker, Bartholomew Fallon was a 17th-century Irish Goldsmith, based in Galway, who made Claddagh rings
until circa 1700. His name first appears in the will of one Dominick Martin,
also a jeweler, dated 26 January 1676, in which Martin willed Fallon some of
his tools. Fallon continued working as a goldsmith until 1700. His are among
the oldest surviving examples of the Claddagh ring, in many cases bearing his
signature. 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 as we know it. Legend has it that Joyce was captured and enslaved by Algerian pirates 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 Richard Joyce. After fourteen
years, Joyce was released and returned to Galway and brought along with him the
ring he had fashioned while in captivity: what we've come to know 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 but there are three other rings also made
around that time, bearing the mark of goldsmith Thomas Meade. The Victorian antiquarian Sir William Jones described the Claddagh, and gives Chambers' Book of Days as the source, in his
book Finger Ring Lore. Jones says: "The clasped hands style ring... are...
still the fashion, and in constant use in the... community of Claddagh at
County Galway.... They rarely intermarry with others than their own people". An account written in 1906 by William Dillon, a Galway jeweler,
claimed that the "Claddagh" ring was worn in the Aran Isles, Connemara and beyond. Knowledge of the ring and its customs spread within the British Isles during the Victorian period, and this is when
its name became established. Galway jewelers began
to market it beyond the local area in the 19th century. Further recognition came in the 20th century. In his 1911 book Rings for the Finger, American mineralogist George Fredrick
Kuntz addresses the
importance of gold wedding rings in Ireland but does not mention the Claddagh
ring. He does, however, include a photo of one, captioned with its correct
name. Furthermore, it is unclear exactly how or when
the ring was brought to the United States. In Rings Throughout the Ages (1945), James Remington McCarthy barely addresses the subject of
Irish rings at all. USAGE & SYMBOLISM The Claddagh 's distinctive design features two hands clasping a heart,
and usually surmounted by a crown. These elements symbolize the qualities of
love (the heart), friendship (the hands), and loyalty (the
crown). A Fenian Claddagh ring, without a crown, is a slightly different take
on the design, but has not achieved the level of popularity of the crowned
version. Claddagh rings are relatively popular among the Irish and
those of Irish heritage, such as Irish Americans, as cultural symbols and
as friendship, engagement and wedding rings. While Claddagh rings are sometimes used as friendship rings,
they are most commonly used as engagement and wedding rings. Mothers sometimes
give these rings to daughters when they come of age. There are several motto's and
wishes associated with the ring, such as: "Let love and friendship
reign." In Ireland, the United States, Canada, and other parts of the
Irish diaspora, the Claddagh is sometimes handed down mother-to-eldest daughter
or grandmother-to-granddaughter. According to Irish author Colin Murphy,
the way in which a Claddagh ring was worn with the intention of conveying the
wearer's relationship status: 1. On the right hand with
the point of the heart toward the fingertips, the wearer is single and may be
looking for love. 2. On the right hand with
the point of the heart toward the wrist, the wearer is in a relationship. 3. On the left hand with
the point of the heart toward the fingertips, the wearer is engaged. 4. On the left hand with
the point of the heart toward the wrist, the wearer is married. There are other localized variations, and numerous oral
traditions, involving the hand and the finger upon which the Claddagh is worn.
Folklore about the ring is relatively recent, not ancient, with "very
little native Irish writing about the ring". Hence, the difficulty today
in finding any source that describes or explains the traditional ways of
wearing the ring. Source: Wikipedia
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