The original Claddagh ring is generally attributed to one Richard Joyce, of Galway. Joyce departed from Claddagh, a small fishing village where the waters of the River Corrib meet Galway Bay, on a ship enroute to the plantations of the West Indies. That week he was to be married, but his ship was captured by Mediterranean Algerian pirates and the crew were sold as slaves.

Richard Joyce was sold to a Moorish goldsmith who trained him in his craft. He soon became a master in his trade and hand crafted a ring for the woman at home he could not forget. In 1689 he was released after William III came to the throne of England and concluded an agreement whereby all his subjects who were held in captivity by the Moors were to be allowed to return to their homes.

The Moorish goldsmith offered Richard his only daughter in marriage and half his wealth if he would remain in Algiers. He declined and returned to Claddagh to find that the woman of his heart had never married. He gave her the ring and they were married and he set up a goldsmith shop in the town of Claddagh said to be the oldest fishing village in Ireland. The earliest Claddagh rings to be traced bear his mark and the initial letters of his name.

By tradition the ring is taken to signify the wish that Love and Friendship should reign supreme. The hands signify friendship, the crown loyalty, and the heart love. The ring has become popular outside Connemara since the middle of the last century - its spread being helped by the vast exodus from the West during the Great Famine in 1847-49. These rings were kept as heirlooms with great pride and passed from mother to daughter.

Today, the ring is worn extensively across Ireland, either on the right hand withthe heart turned outwards showing that the wearer is "fancy free" or with the heart turned inwards to denote that he or she is "spoken for".

Pride of place is on the left hand, with the heart turned in, indicating that the wearer is happily married and the love and friendship will last forever.