The Claddagh Ring is a famous friendship ring originating from the Claddagh village located just outside the old walls of Galway city.

The ring's distinctive feature are two hands clasping a heart surmounted by a crown.

How one wears the claddagh has significance:

• On the right hand, crown in heart out, the wearer is free as the birds in the sky. If you want her, she may have you. Start courting.

• On the right hand, crown out heart in, the lass ‘tis spoken for!

• On the left hand, regardless of where -- heart in, crown out -- she is happily married.

The heart represents love, the hands stand for friendship, and the crown symbolises loyalty.

An original symbol of the "Fisher Kings" of the Galway town of Claddagh, Ireland, was first fashioned into the traditional ring in the 17th Century during the reign of Mary II.

Legend has it that an young Irish man, Richard Joyce, bound for the West Indian slave plantations - no doubt the Irish Caribbean island of Montserrat - was kidnapped himself by a band of Mediterranean pirates and sold to a Moorish goldsmith who apprenticed him to his craft. In 1689, through the negotiations of William III, Joyce is released and returns to Galway, despite, it is said, the Moor's offer of the daughter's hand in marriage and a princely dowry of half of all his wealth.

Time moves on. The great Famine of 1847-1849 causes a mass exodus from the West and with that exodus spreads the fame of the Claddagh ring. These rings are considered heirlooms, and passed on from mother to daughter as well as between friends and lovers.

References

• http://www.claddagh.com
• "Claddagh ring" The Concise Oxford Dictionary. Ed. Judy Pearsall. Oxford University Press, 2001. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. University of Phoenix /Apollo. 6 August 2004 http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t23.e10383