Claddagh Ring
The Claddagh ring, a gold or silver finger-ring shaped as two hands clasping a crowned heart, has been made in Galway since the seventeenth century and is named after the old fishing village of Claddagh beside the city. The design descends from the medieval 'fede' ring, whose clasped hands stood for faith and betrothal, with the heart and crown added locally. The best-known origin story tells of Richard Joyce, a Galway goldsmith who was captured by Algerian pirates in the late seventeenth century and sold into slavery in North Africa, where he supposedly made the ring before returning home; th