The Claddagh Ring, (pronounced CLAW - DA) is a Gaelic symbol, which represents "Love, Friendship and Loyalty". The Claddagh consists of two hands, a heart and a crown. The HANDS = Friendship...The HEART = Love...The CROWN = Loyalty "With these hands I give you my heart and I crown it with my love."

The Claddagh Ring belongs to a group of rings called “Faith”, or sometimes called “Fede”, finger –rings. They are distinguished by having the bezel cut or cast in the form of two clasped hands, symbolizing trust or plighted truth. There are several variations of the fede ring, the commonest being that in which the hands clasp a heart between them. This version to which the name "Claddagh Ring" has been given is that in which the clasped heart is surmounted by a crown.

The Claddagh ring was commonly used as a wedding ring for the fisher folk in the Aran Islands and Connemara in the 1700's. Tradition has it that in the Claddagh these rings were handed down from mother to daughter. They were worn with the crown towards the knuckle on betrothal and on marriage with the crown towards the nail. The earliest examples that can be dated are stamped R.J., the initials of Richard Joyce, a goldsmith working in Galway about 1700. Two main varieties of the Claddagh Ring are made, one with a high and the other with a low crown, and they are made in three main sizes, for men, women and children.

There are several popular versions of the origins of the Claddagh Ring, the two best known of which attribute it to the Joyce family, one of the so-called “Tribes of Galway”. A family associated with the city of Galway rather than the Claddagh.

Margaret Joyce married firstly Domingo de Rona, a wealthy Spanish merchant who traded with Galway. He died shortly afterwards, leaving her a considerable fortune. She later married Oliver French, a mayor of Galway in 1596. Margaret used her fortune to build numerous bridges in Connaught and was providentially rewarded for her good work and charity by an eagle that dropped a gold ring, the original “Claddagh Ring “on to her lap.

Richard Joyce, a native of Galway, was captured by Algerian pirates while on his way to the West Indies. He was sold as a slave to a wealthy Moorish goldsmith who trained him in the craft. In 1689 he was released from slavery, along with other Irish subjects, as a result of a demand from William 111 of England. The Moor offered him his only daughter in marriage and half his wealth if he would agree to remain in Algiers, but Joyce refused and returned home to his native city. He brought with him the idea of the “Claddagh Ring” -some of the stamped R.J. and bearing the mark of an anchor (thought to signify hope) are believed to be his work.