Product Information

The Claddagh pendant originated 300 years ago in an old fishing village called Claddagh, on the outskirts of Galway, a city on Ireland’s west coast, where it was first designed and crafted in the 17th century.

It is given as a symbol of engagement, love, or friendship.

The legend tells of a man from Galway named Richard Joyce who emigrated to the East Indies with hopes of returning to marry his beloved. However, his ship was captured during the journey, and he was sold as a slave to a Muslim goldsmith in Algiers, where he learned the craft.

When King William III came to power, he requested the release of all British captives. Richard Joyce was freed after 14 years in captivity. The goldsmith had grown so fond of Richard that he offered him half of his wealth and his daughter’s hand in marriage. But Joyce declined and returned home to marry the woman he had never forgotten.

Throughout all those years, he never forgot his love and designed a ring as a symbol of his devotion. The Claddagh is characterized by its symbolic elements: two hands holding a heart topped with a crown, representing true love or eternal friendship.

The heart symbolizes love, the hands friendship, and the crown loyalty and fidelity.