Looking for Irish love symbols? Want to know about all the different styles of love symbols available? Read our guide for more information on choosing the right symbol for you…
Various Irish Love Symbols
The most enduring Irish love symbol is the claddagh. This love symbol is not Celtic in origin but hails from the 17th century. A fisherman named Richard Joyce, from the village of Claddagh in Galway, had been kidnapped by Barbary pirates off the Irish coast and sold into servitude. He became a goldsmith’s apprentice and designed the claddagh symbol to remember his beloved left behind in the village. Upon his release in 1689, he returned to Galway to find that his beloved had remained true to him, rejecting all suitors. They were married with the claddagh ring to cement their love.
To this day, the claddagh is an Irish love symbol that signifies eternal love and friendship. The symbol consists of two hands cupping a heart, which is topped with a crown. The heart is symbolic of love and the two hands represent friendship. The crown stands for loyalty and fidelity.
This Irish love symbol became famous as a symbol of remembering the ties of the past. When countless waves of Irish people left the shores of Ireland from the harbor in Cork to escape the Great Potato famines of the 19th century, they carried with them the claddagh ring as a link to Irish shores. Their long voyage across the Atlantic to North America severed many ties to Ireland and the symbol of love reminded them of their country and kinsmen left behind.
Development of the Irish Love Symbol
The claddagh symbol was frequently made into rings that were given away both in friendship and in love. As an Irish love symbol, the claddagh is often depicted on wedding invitation cards. Claddagh rings are favorite gifts. The prominent heart on the ring, indicates that one’s heart should be fancy free and whole. Over the years, this love symbol has been handed down for generations to become family heirlooms.
The Irish love symbol of the claddagh makes a beautiful gift in the form of a ring in love or friendship. First created in the 17th century by an Irish fisherman, the claddagh love symbol was a treasured link to the homeland for Irish immigrants to America. Claddagh rings survive in the family as heirlooms for generations.
