Claddagh ring: Difference between revisions
Content deleted Content added
No edit summary |
←Blanked the page |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
==Symbolism== |
|||
The Claddagh's distinctive design features two hands clasping a [[Heart (symbol)|heart]], and usually surmounted by a [[Crown (headgear)|crown]]. The elements of this symbol are often said to correspond to the qualities of [[love]] (the heart), [[friendship]] (the hands), and [[loyalty]] (the crown). A "[[Fenian]]" Claddagh ring, without a crown, was later designed in Dublin. Claddagh rings, with or without the crown (most commonly with a crown), have come to denote pride in Irish heritage, while continuing to be symbols of love and marriage. |
|||
Claddagh rings may be used as friendship or relationship rings depending on the intention of wearer and, in the case of a gift, of the giver. There are three traditionally accepted ways of wearing the ring which may signal someone's relationship status:<ref name="McMahon">McMahon, S. (2005). Story of the Claddagh Ring, Mercier Press</ref> |
|||
#When worn on the right ring finger with the heart pointing to the fingertip, the wearer is free of any attachment. |
|||
#On the same finger but the other way round, with the heart pointing away from the fingertip, it suggests someone is romantically involved. |
|||
#When the ring is on the left hand wedding ring finger, it means the person is married or engaged.<ref name="McMahon"/> |
|||
There are other traditions involving the hand and the finger upon which the Claddagh is worn but these are difficult to reference. Folklore about the ring is relatively recent with no "slow growth from antiquity" and "very little native Irish writing about the ring" according to Sean McMahon.<ref name="McMahon"/> |
|||
==Origins== |
|||
The Claddagh ring belongs to a group of European finger rings called "''fede'' rings".<ref name="Scarisbrick">Scarisbrick and Henig, Finger Rings, Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2003</ref><ref name="Delamer"/> The name "fede" comes from the Italian phrase ''{{lang|it|mani in fede}}'' ("hands [joined] in faith" or "hands [joined] in loyalty"). These rings date from Roman times, when the gesture of clasped hands was a symbol of pledging vows, and they were used as love and marriage rings in medieval and Renaissance Europe.<ref name="Scarisbrick"/> |
|||
''Fede'' rings are cast in the form of two clasped hands, symbolizing faith, trust, or [[engagement|“plighted troth".]] Nowadays, the Claddagh ring is seen as a distinctively Irish variation on the fede ring,<ref>Elizabeth McCrum, Irish Victorian Jewellery, in Irish Arts Review, [http://www.jstor.org/stable/20491715 Vol. 2, No. 1 (Spring, 1985), pp. 18-21]</ref> while the hands, heart, and crown motif was used in England in the early 18th century.<ref>[http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O118619/ring/ 1706 English ring].</ref> It is generally accepted that the ring is directly descended from the ''fede'' ring.<ref>[http://www.archive.org/details/fingerringlorehi00jonerich ''Finger-ring Lore'', William Jones FSA, Chatto & Windus, 1877]</ref> |
|||
[[Galway]] has produced Claddagh rings continuously since at least 1700,<ref>Jack Mulveen, Galway Goldsmiths, Their Marks and Ware, Journal of the [[Galway Archaeological and Historical Society]], [http://www.jstor.org/stable/25535635 Vol. 46, (1994), pp. 43–64].</ref> but the name "Claddagh ring" was not used before the 1840s.<ref>[http://www.jstor.org/stable/20492901 Ida Delamer, The Claddagh Ring, Irish Arts Review (Vol. 12, (1996), pp. 181–187 ].</ref><ref name="places.galwaylibrary.ie">[http://places.galwaylibrary.ie/history/chapter265.html A freely available but incomplete copy of Delamer's article, The Claddagh Ring (1996), without pictures].</ref> |
|||
An early written description of this kind of ring was published in 1843, along with an illustration. ''Ireland, its Scenery, Character etc.'' by Mr. and Mrs. [[Samuel Carter Hall]] has a section about the Claddagh fishing community and their wedding rings. In a footnote, the Halls mention a "strong analogy" with older [[gimmal ring]]s, despite the "rudeness of their [the Galway rings'] construction". |
|||
{{quotation|The wedding ring is a heir-loom {{sic}} in a family. It is regularly transferred by the mother to her daughter first married; and so on to their descendants. These rings are large, of solid gold, and not unfrequently {{sic}} cost from two to three pounds each. The one we have here copied had evidently seen much service. Some of them are plainer; but the greater number are thus formed.}} |
|||
There are very similar descriptions in later 19th century books and journals. The Victorian [[antiquarian]] Sir William Jones<ref>[http://www.archive.org/details/fingerringlorehi00jonerich ''Finger-ring Lore'', William Jones FSA, Chatto & Windus, 1877].</ref> gives Chambers' ''Book of Days''<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=vxhhUbKRe3sC&pg Robert Chambers, ''Book of Days: A Miscellany of Popular Antiquities'', 1863 (2004 reprint)].</ref> as the source for Claddagh information in his book ''Finger-Ring Lore''. Chambers uses the Halls' account "almost verbatim".<ref name="Delamer">Delamer</ref> |
|||
Jones explains: {{quotation|The clasped hands [style ring]... are... still the fashion, and in constant use in [the]... community [of] Claddugh {{sic}} at [County] Galway.... [They] rarely [intermarry] with others than their own people. The [Claddagh] wedding-ring is a{{sic}} heirloom in the family... transferred from the mother to the daughter who is first [to be] married, and so passes to her descendants. Many of these [rings]... are very old.}} |
|||
In 1996, the Halls' information was examined by Ida Delamer, an expert on antique Irish silver.<ref name="places.galwaylibrary.ie"/><ref name="Delamer"/> She is skeptical about the Halls' account, and implies it has been romanticised. Reasons for her doubts include: |
|||
* The authors were misled by folklorist [[Thomas Crofton Croker]]. |
|||
*"...with a few exceptions, all extant... Claddagh rings made prior to 1840 are [men's] rings" |
|||
Delamer refers to a 1906 account by William Dillon,<ref>William Dillon, in the Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society, Vol V 1905–6.</ref> Dillon, from a family of Galway jewellers in business since c. 1750, says that the "Claddagh" ring was worn in the [[Aran Isles]], [[Connemara]], and beyond. |
|||
The Claddagh ring was a more or less marginal custom in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Knowledge of it spread within the British Isles during the Victorian period, and this is when its name became established.<ref name="Delamer"/> Galway jewellers began to market it beyond the local area in the 19th century,<ref name="Delamer"/><ref>[http://www.claddaghring.ie/content/8-historical-letters Letters to Dillon's of Galway].</ref> and presented a ring to Queen Victoria in 1849. Dublin [[goldsmith]]s started to make it too, and more "widespread recognition" came in the 20th century.<ref>Elizabeth McCrum, Irish Victorian Jewellery, Irish Arts Review, Vol. 2, No. 1 (Spring, 1985), pp. 18–21 http://www.jstor.org/stable/20491715</ref> |
|||
American mineralogist and ring buff [[George Frederick Kunz]] does not mention the Claddagh ring in his book, but he shows a photo captioned with its correct name; Kunz merely addresses the importance of gold wedding rings in Ireland.<ref>[http://www.archive.org/details/ringsforfingerf00kunzgoog ''Rings for the Finger''], by George Frederick Kunz, J. B. Lippincott Co., 1917.</ref> It is unclear exactly how and when the ring's popularity spread to the US. Interestingly enough, McCarthy neither mentions the ring nor illustrates an example of it, even though he cites/credits Jones and Kunz among others.<ref>McCarthy, James Remington, (1945) ''Rings Throughout the Ages''</ref> |
|||
==Legends== |
|||
There are many legends about the origins of the ring, particularly those connected with the Joyce Family of Galway. [[Richard Joyce]] was a [[silversmith]] working around 1700.<ref>Galway Goldsmiths, Their Marks and Ware |
|||
Jack Mulveen, Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society |
|||
[http://www.jstor.org/stable/25535635 Vol. 46, (1994), pp. 43–64]</ref> His initials are on one of the earliest surviving Claddagh rings with a maker's mark,<ref name="Delamer"/> but there are three others also made around that time, with the mark of goldsmith Thomas Meade.<ref name="Delamer"/> Suggestions that Joyce originated the design are "extremely unlikely" according to Delamer. Some elements found in the legends appeared in a footnote about Joyce family traditions in [[James Hardiman]]'s ''History of Galway'' (1820). |
|||
{{quotation|The story of the Claddagh ring ... has so much folklore and myth attached to it that it is difficult to know where legend ends and truth begins. (Ida Delamer)}} |
|||
==Modern usage== |
|||
Claddagh rings are worn by many, though slightly more commonly by those of Irish heritage. It is worn in the main as a cultural symbol, and per tradition as an engagement/wedding ring.<ref name="Murphy">Murphy, Colin, and Donal O'Dea (2006) ''The Feckin' Book of Everything Irish''. New York, Barnes & Noble. p.126 ISBN 0-7607-8219-9</ref> Claddagh rings have been used often as plot devices in movies and television.<ref name="Bite Me">Stafford, Nikki (2002) ''Bite Me! An Unofficial Guide to the World of Buffy the Vampire Slayer''. Toronto, ECW Press. ISBN 1-55022-540-5 p. 213</ref> <ref>http://fallers.wordpress.com/2010/08/26/modern-usage-of-the-claddagh-ring-in-film-and-television/</ref> |
|||
==See also== |
|||
*[[Bartholomew Fallon]] |
|||
*[[Luckenbooth brooch]] |
|||
*[[Ecclesiastical ring]] |
|||
==Notes== |
|||
{{Reflist|2}} |
|||
==References== |
|||
* Jones, William, (1890) ''Finger Ring Lore'' |
|||
* Kunz, George Frederick, (1911) ''Rings for the Finger'' |
|||
* McCarthy, James Remington, (1945) ''Rings Throughout the Ages'' |
|||
* McMahon, S., (2005) ''Story of the Claddagh Ring'', Mercier Press |
|||
* Mitchell, James, (1985, 1986) ''The mis-titled ‘Joyce’ tomb in the Collegiate Church of St Nicholas, Galway'', vol. 40 |
|||
* Mulveen, Jack, (1994) "Galway Goldsmiths: Their Mark and Ware", ''Journal of the [[Galway Archaeological and Historical Society]]'', vol. 46 |
|||
* [[Adrian James Martyn|Martyn, Adrian James]], (2001) ''[[The Tribes of Galway]]'', Galway |
|||
* Sammon, Paddy (2002), ''[http://greenspeak.info/book/examples/claddagh.ring.php Greenspeak: Ireland in Her Own Words]'', Town House Press. ISBN 1-860-59144-2 |
|||
* Pearsall, Judy [ed.], (2004) "Claddagh Ring" in ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary'', Oxford University Press |
|||
* McAdoo, Patricia, (2005) ''Claddagh: The Tale of the Ring'' with illustrations by James Newell |
|||
==External links== |
|||
* [http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O118499/ring/ 18th century Claddagh ring] – [[Victoria and Albert museum]] |
|||
* [http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0701/nationwide.html The story behind the Claddagh ring] – [[Raidió Teilifís Éireann|RTÉ]] news feature (click on "Watch the Show" under the image on the right) |
|||
{{DEFAULTSORT:Claddagh Ring}} |
|||
[[Category:Irish culture]] |
|||
[[Category:Galway (city)]] |
|||
[[Category:Rings]] |
|||
[[Category:17th-century introductions]] |
|||
{{Link GA|ru}} |
|||
[[da:Claddagh Ring]] |
|||
[[de:Claddagh-Ring]] |
|||
[[es:Anillo de Claddagh]] |
|||
[[fr:Claddagh ring]] |
|||
[[ga:Fáinne Chladaigh]] |
|||
[[gl:Anel de Claddagh]] |
|||
[[it:Claddagh Ring]] |
|||
[[nl:Claddagh-ring]] |
|||
[[ja:クラダリング]] |
|||
[[pl:Claddagh ring]] |
|||
[[ru:Кладдахское кольцо]] |
|||
[[fi:Claddagh]] |
|||
[[sv:Claddagh-ring]] |
|||