Anne Delaney traces the history behind one of the most enduring love symbols
Like many Irish people, I own a Claddagh Ring. My husband gave it to me years ago and I’m fond of it. It’s certainly an elegant piece of jewellery but its origins in one of the great love stories of Irish history adds to its appeal for me.
The roots of the Claddagh Ring date back more than 300 years to the small village known as The Claddagh (An Cladach), one of the oldest fishing villages in Ireland, which lies just a little outside the ancient walls of Galway City, where the River Corrib joins the Atlantic seas of Galway Bay.
The waters around Ireland and further afield presented many hazards 300 years ago. For in the 18th century violent Algerian (Barbary) pirates roamed the seas of Europe attacking vulnerable trading and passenger ships, seizing valuable cargoes, and often selling the passengers and sailors into a life of slavery and life-sapping toil.
This cruel fate befell Richard Joyce, a native of The Claddagh, when he sailed out of Ireland in 1675 on a voyage to the West Indies. On the way, Richard’s vessel was attacked by Algerian buccaneers who enslaved all the unfortunate passengers and crew and sold them into bondage into Algiers.
Richard, perhaps luckier than many of his fellow captives, became the human property of a goldsmith in Algiers, who made him his apprentice.
In 1689 William lll became King of England and managed to pressurise the Algerians into freeing all his subjects that had been enslaved by Algerian pirates over many years. By then, Richard had been living in slavery in Algiers for 14 years.
He obviously possessed a rare talent for working gold, for his former Algerian master tried to persuade him to stay, offering him half his business and his daughter’s hand in marriage, if he would only remain and continue with his work there.
But Richard refused this lavish offer for, before his capture, he had been betrothed to a girl from the Claddagh. He had never forgotten his young love during his long years of captivity. He returned to Galway where he was soon reunited with his sweetheart of 14 years earlier and they got married, settling near Rahoon.
He created a ring, later known as the Claddagh Ring, with the unique design of two hands holding a crowned heart, to serve as his wife’s wedding band, as a tribute to her love and loyalty during his long exile. The hands on the ring indicate friendship, the heart symbolises love and the crown represents loyalty.
Examples of Joyce’s work from the time of his return from slavery until his death in 1737 are still surviving.
Continue reading in this week’s Ireland’s Own
