Claddagh Ring Meaning
Claddagh Ring is a traditional Irish ring given as a symbol of love or worn as wedding rings.
Claddagh ring meaning and legends
The tradition of Claddagh ring – two hands hold a crowned heart – began hundreds of years ago in the Irish fishing town of Claddagh. There, a fisherman used it as a crown symbol and community members called themselves the Kings Firshermen of Claddagh’s. Overtime, the symbol started to represented the whole town.
A legend about the origin of the Claddagh rings involves an Irish woman, Margaret Joyce, from the 16th century. She married a Spanish merchant and followed him to his country. They lived happily together until he died, leaving her an impressive inheritance. Margaret returned home and married the mayor of Galway. She used the money to subsidize the bridges from the Connacht region. Following the legend, an eagle dropped the ring from its mouth, falling into the woman’s lap for her charitable acts.
Another story talks about an Irish prince who fell in love with a servant from his castle. The girl was honest and came from a good family. The Prince convinced the girl’s father of his good intentions by making a ring whose hands mean friendship, the crown – loyalty, and the heart – love. With this ring, the Prince asked the girl to marry him, and her father gave his blessing.
However, the most credible explanation for the Claddagh ring is also the most dramatic one. Historians who talk about the first claddagh rings, remember Richard Joyce, a man from Galway. While he was boarding to go to the West Indies for a new work place, Richard is kidnapped by mauri pirates and sold as a slave. In the end, he is taken as an apprentice for an Algerian jeweler. In time, Joyce turns into a masterful jeweler and made the first Claddagh ring from pure gold as a present and remembrance of the woman he left home.
When England’s King William the 2nd negotiated the freedom of all English prisoners in 1698, the Algerian jeweler asked Joyce to stay and work for him. But Joyce declined the offer and returned to Galway, where he found true love, married and opened a shop in the city. Today the most expensive Claddagh rings have the RJ initials on them, as a sign of authenticity.
Wearing Claddagh Rings
The ring is worn on the left hand, the heart toward the wearer’s wrist as a symbol that the heart is offered to another. If the heart is directed toward the fingers, it means that the carrier hopes to find true love.
