Origin of the Claddagh Ring

From the Romans, to the Galwegians, with love…

The origin of the Claddagh ring goes much further back than you might think. It’s not a particularly clear history either, as is often the case when you go back a millennium or two and myth, storytelling and intrigue are woven in.

The tradition of 2 hands together in a ring format dates back to Roman times, when people gave them as a sign of loyalty. This type of ring is often known as a ‘fede’ ring, and is often ascribed to the Latin word for loyalty. In fact, this is not the case, since the Latin words fides and fidelis mean loyalty and loyal respectively. Fede is an Italian word, meaning faith, which in turn can signify friendship, commitment, betrothal and so on.

These ‘clasped hands’ rings were popular in medieval times, again a period of notoriously poor documentation and record-keeping. Then we arrive at the 17th century or so, where Galway and the Claddagh come in, and the story gets murkier still.

Two lines of thought - legends is probably a better word - vie for the origin of what is now the Claddagh ring. Both of them concern the surname Joyce, a famous Galway name as one of the tribes. Legend A is a certain Richard Joyce, captured by Algerians and subsequently released to establish his jewellery business in Ireland. Legend B is a Margaret Joyce - no relation by all accounts, but there are enough Joyces to give their name to Joyces Country in Connemara - who married the Mayor of Galway and was rewarded for her generosity in building several bridges in Connacht by an eagle dropping a Claddagh ring in her lap. I know, you can decide.

The Claddagh ring that we know today retains the hands motif, but instead of them clasping each other they clasp a heart, on which sits a crown, to form the trinity of love, friendship and loyalty. The 3-pointed ‘trident’ crown is another symbol that goes back a long, long way.

The JVD take on the Claddagh ring is unique. It’s also much softer, with more flowing lines and edges. You can see this in the curved tops of the crown and the cuffs of the gloved hands. The truly unique part is the incorporation of a Celtic knot within the heart shape in the centre of the ring.

So, symbols that started in Roman times and carried on through the medieval centuries have been enhanced and added to in the ancient fishing village in the west of Ireland which gives its name to the ring, to be further developed into the JVD version you see before you.

As you might imagine, all JVD Claddagh rings come with the JVD ‘maker’s mark’ hallmark and are individually numbered.

You can shop the range of JVD Claddagh rings here.