Many people received a Claddagh Ring for Christmas
last year and should be aware of its significance. Designed and worn in Ireland since the late
1600’s, the Claddagh Ring has enjoyed a growing popularity with Irish exiles
the world over. The modern Galway jeweler, Stephen Fallon Ltd. notes that the
use of joined hands to denote friendship and the human heart to denote charity
is common enough in forms of art which use highly conventionalized symbolism
and rings of this general type, known as fidelity rings are not excessively
uncommon. However, when referring to the crowned heart supported by two hand,
it is stated that this particular style is most definitely the Claddagh Ring
and nothing else.
The earliest maker of this design was a Galway
goldsmith named Joyce who had learned his craft in a remarkable way. When still
a young man, he was taken by Algerian pirates and spent several years in
captivity indentured to a Tunisian goldsmith, where he became a skilled
craftsman in precious metals. When William III acceded to the throne of England
in 1689, he made a treaty with the Moors whereby all of his subjects who were
in captivity were freed. Joyce returned to the town of Claddagh in County
Galway and pursued a career with his new found skills. He prospered as a
goldsmith and several examples of his ecclesiastical works are still in
existence. Shortly after his return home, Joyce created a ring design that
became popular around the town of Claddagh and gradually across the whole of
County Galway. Known as the Claddagh ring, they were kept as heirloom with
pride and passed from generation to generation, often being used as wedding
rings. Even people of limited means were prepared to exert themselves to make
enough money to purchase a good example of the ring. Its popularity continued
to spread and after Joyce’s death, the tradition was carried on by the Robinson
family who became the principle makers of the ring throughout the 18th
century.
As to the meaning of the symbols on the ring,
several stories exist. The most likely however, is one that a writer learned
from an old Galway shanachy, and it had to do with the history of time. During
England’s attempted conquest of Ireland, each generation of Irish resisted the
yoke of slavery forced upon them. In 600 years of English intrusion, there were
no less than 14 resistance movements- 11 of which were armed rebellions. It was
after one of these aborted risings-the Nine Years War of O’Neill, Maguire and
O’Donnell against the Crown-that the English decided to end the threat of the
Irish clans forever. In 1607, charges of treason were fabricated against the
strongest clan Chieftains: those of Tyrone, Tirconnell and Fermanagh and those
noble leaders were forced to flee Ireland in what became known as the Flight of
the Earls. After the Flight of the Earls, the Irish again found themselves
oppressed and in desperation, the next generation rose against the Crown in the
Williamite War. In 1691, when the last bastion of Irish resistance in that war
fell with the capitulation of Limerick, the English pressed their advantage.
The remaining Gaelic aristocracy was either destroyed of forced into exile in
what became known as the Flight of the Wild Geese. In exile, the Irish lamented
hat the loss of their beloved Erin and preserved their love for Ireland in song
and story.
Correspondence
Secretary President
Frank
Darcy Ken
Egan
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