Written by Brian Nolan:
A Galway Girl:
The tale of the Claddagh ring is one that entails a swashbuckling beau and his Galway love. The story it commemorates kicked off in 1675, when a handsome teenager, Richard Joyce, aged only 15 years, boarded a two-mast sailing ship berthed at Galway harbour, roughly where the Spanish Arch is now.
It was part of the city fortifications that protected merchant ships while they were loading and unloading cargo. Richard was waved off by his teenage crush, a young and beautiful Galway girl. To this day, we are not sure if Richard was leaving the city willingly, or unwillingly.
A Prisoner or Wealthy Merchant:
He may have been a prisoner, collateral damage from the siege of Galway in 1652, captured by the Cromwellian army and destined for life as a servant in Barbados. Many suffered a similar fate, worked to death on a sugar cane plantation in the tropical heat where typhoid, malaria and sunstroke claimed the lives of 90% of fieldworkers.
Or, as some believe, Richard Joyce was the son of a wealthy Galway merchant, one of the 14 Tribes of Galway, and owner of one of those profitable plantations. He would learn the lucrative rum trade and work for his father. I suppose we will never know.
What we do know is the ship was attacked and captured by Barbary pirates somewhere near the Azores. The pirates, known as Corsairs, were operating out of Algiers in North Africa, raiding with impunity the rich cargo galleons that were plying the seas between Europe and the Americas.
The Claddagh Ring:
Richard Joyce now found himself sold off as a slave in Algiers to a Turkish goldsmith, who taught him the jewellery trade.
Apparently, he became an eminent craftsman, a master silversmith and either bought his freedom, or escaped, journeying from Morocco, through Spain, where he boarded a ship at Corunna back to Galway.
And back to his sweetheart – the same girl who had waved goodbye to him at Galway quay – and waited faithfully for his return for 16 years.
Richard gave her a ring fashioned for her during his time in captivity. He named it the Claddagh ring after the fishing village that sits opposite the Spanish Arch. Perhaps she came from there, or maybe was that his home.
The Fede Ring:
That ring is now known worldwide as a triple-token of Love, Loyalty, and Friendship, as represented by the three symbols, the Heart, the Crown and the Hands that grace the ring.
What is less well known is that the Claddagh ring design is based on a much earlier, and quite popular ‘Fede’ ring.
The Fede ring symbolised love and friendship. Dating from Roman times, it depicted two hands clasping a heart, or covering a heart. Richard Joyce added the crown to his design, a symbol of royalty yes, but also a symbol of loyalty.
Richard likely spent some time in Spain on his journey home from Algiers and it’s thought he eventually sailed home from Corunna (A Coruña, or La Coruña), a large port in northern Spain, and at that time, 1691, the capital of the kingdom of Gallica.
Translated from Galician, Coruña means Crown.
Galwegians were quite familiar with Corunna, as it was the starting point for the Camino de Santiago de Compostela, a popular pilgrimage dedicated to Saint James, followed by Christians in the 16th and 17th century, and still popular today.
Is it possible that Richard Joyce borrowed the Galician crown for his Claddagh ring? I do suppose she was thrilled with the ring, and to get her true love back. She must have sat by the quayside at the Spanish Arch for years, waiting in vain for his return, praying for their reunion, hoping that by some miracle he had survived whatever shipwreck or disaster that may have befallen him, believing all that time that he too was thinking of her, and likewise hoping that she would still love him on his return. Isn’t the power of love amazing!
Oh before you ask, no, we don’t know her name! For some reason we remember his name, and his story, but not her’s!
Love may be amazing, but it’s often quite unfair.
The Galway Museum has on display a very unusual Claddagh ring that Richard Joyce made, some time before he died in 1735. They also have on display a silver chalice and an unusual votive shrine, also in silver, both made by Richard Joyce. The Museum is open to the public Tuesday – Saturday, 9.30am to 5pm. Admission is free.
Keep the Galway Love going – you can buy an authentic Claddagh Ring at any of the many excellent jewellery shops in Galway.
